Poisons

All preparation and handling of toxic substances must be conducted with great care. Work in a well-ventilated area, wear gloves, goggles and a respirator. The operative and those assisting can become poisoned by, fumes, dust, contacting toxins and dusts with bare skin or mucous membranes. Be Very Cautious!

I haven't provided much information on identifying the plants or mushrooms required for making some of these poisons because detailed information on this subject is widely available in books and on the internet. There are dozens of other toxins which the operative could produce or obtain but I have chosen to include only the most basic ones which are readily available (Cobra or pufferfish toxin may be very deadly but how are you going to obtain some without going to lengths which make it impractical?).

Ethylene Glycol

This is the active ingredient in automotive anti-freeze. Be sure to use the automotive rather than the plumbing variety, which is non-toxic. Ethylene Glycol is deadly poisonous and there isn't much that a doctor can do for a victim who has ingested more than a cup or so of it. Ethylene Glycol has (apparently) a sweet, pleasing taste and is easily masked with alcohol or strong tasting soft drinks, such as colas. A syringe full of this toxin will also kill, but not quickly enough to be considered for selective assassination.

The best application for this poison is to top up a half-empty liquor bottle with it and leave it where some unlucky non-White will find it. Ethylene Glycol is a bright yellow-green color and should be mixed with a dark beverage. The victim will be more likely to drink the poison if the original seal on the cap is unbroken, so purchase some new caps from a beer + winemaking supply store. Put the bottle in a paper bag from the liquor store, adding a receipt is a nice touch as well. Leave the bottle in a non-White neighborhood or where some particular target is likely to find it.

Methyl Alcohol

Also known as Wood Alcohol, this substance is deadly if more than just a few mouthfuls are swallowed and medical treatment is not received soon after ingestion. It is indistinguishable from alcohol in appearance, smell and taste. Methyl Alcohol can be purchased at hardware and paint stores where it is sold as paint remover. It and can be applied in a similar manner as Ethylene Glycol except that there is no need to mix it with any real booze.

Cyanide

Cyanide occurs naturally in the seeds of a number of common plants. Peach pits contain a very high concentration of cyanide. The pits must be crushed and powdered and the cyanide extracted from this powder. The process of extracting pure cyanide from these sources is nearly impossible without some specialized equipment, though a fairly powerful toxin can be produced from a distilled solution of the powdered peach pits. Quite a large dose of unconcentrated cyanide must be ingested in order to be fatal.

The operative should try to obtain this toxin by other means. Cyanide has a number of legitimate uses which make it possible to obtain on the civilian market. The real advantage of cyanide is that it acts very quickly, killing the target within minutes rather than hours. Lethal dosage is at least 500 milligrams (mg). Deadly hydrocyanic gas is produced when cyanide is mixed with a strong acid. This gas is invisible and has a slight smell of almonds. Cyanide gas could be used effectively in crowded areas with poor ventilation such as nightclubs, subways or shopping malls.

Arsenic

Arsenic has been known since ancient times. The pure element can be obtained by heating a common ore called arsenopyrite (FeAsS). Other common minerals are realgar (As2S2); orpiment (As 2S3); and arsenic trioxide (As2O3); occasionally the pure element is found in nature. Arsenic also occurs in place of some of the sulfur in the sulfides that are the principal ores of many of the heavy metals. When these ores are roasted at 613 Degrees C (1135 Degrees F), the arsenic sublimes (turns from solid directly into gaseous form) and can be collected from the dust as a by-product. This is dangerous work as the fumes can poison anyone not in a protective suit and a special chemical respirator. The operative would have an easier time trying to purchase this toxin. It is a very common element and has a number of legitimate uses.

Nicotine (Tobacco)

Nicotine is a deadly poison if ingested or injected in concentrated form. Smoking or chewing tobacco, nicotine patches, raw tobacco leaves and certain pesticides are good sources of Nicotine. The Nicotine must be extracted and concentrated. Place tobacco into a blender or food processor and grind it as fine as possible. Add water and blend into a pulpy, dark-brown liquid. Bring this liquid to a slow boil in a pot with a lid. Let this boil for several minutes until liquid becomes very dark. Strain the tobacco pulp out and simmer until a thick black syrup is obtained, this will be concentrated Nicotine… be careful not to burn it or it will be useless.

Quite a bit of time can be saved in producing pure Nicotine if the operative can find a product called Black Leaf 40, an insecticide which contains 40% pure Nicotine. The water can be evaporated from this product to produce nearly pure Nicotine.

Injection of this poison is the best method, but it kills quite slowly and the target will have time to fight back, alert witnesses and generally make a nuisance of himself before succumbing. Ingestion is possible but the strong and unpleasant odor and taste of Nicotine makes success unlikely. Don't even bother trying to use nicotine as a contact poison, it simply doesn't work.

Conium Alkaloids (Poison Hemlock + Water Hemlock)

Poison Hemlock is native to Europe. However, it is now widely distributed across the United States and Canada, especially in the Northern states. It is common along roadsides, hiking trails, ditches and field borders.

Poison Hemlock can grow to be about 6 to 10 ft. tall. It has leaves and white flowerheads resembling those of parsnips, carrots, and Water Hemlock. It has a fleshy, white taproot, a main stem with characteristic light red spots and a disagreeable smell. All plant parts are poisonous. However, the seeds contain the highest concentration of poison. The conium alkaloids are volatile and can even cause toxic reactions when inhaled.

Water Hemlock does not have the same main taproot and stem. Instead, Water Hemlock has a branching, tuberous root stalk. The lower part of the stem of the Water Hemlock is divided into chambers which contain its toxicant.

The seeds of the Poison Hemlock or the lower stem of the Water Hemlock should be processed in a similar fashion as the castor bean (ricin). Ingestion is the most reliable method of application and hemlock lends itself to being concealed in food or drink. A solution made from the powdered toxin can be injected but, again, death is not quick and the target may be able to spoil the operative's plans for escape.

Belladonna

Belladonna is also known as deadly nightshade and contains a highly toxic substance known as Atropine. All parts of this plant are toxic but the highest concentrations are found in the berries. Ingestion of just a few of the raw berries can kill an adult. The berries can be processed into a purer toxin in a similar fashion as castor beans (Ricin). Ingestion is the best delivery method, but injection will also work.

Castor Bean (Ricin)

The fleshy pulp left over from the de-hulled castor bean is very highly toxic. The active toxin is Ricin, an extremely deadly poison, which, in its pure form, requires about 1 milligram (mg) to kill an adult.

Procedure:

1. Obtain some castor beans from a garden supply store.
2. Put about 2 ounces of hot water into a glass jar and add a teaspoon full of lye. Mix it thoroughly.
3. Wait for the lye/water mixture to cool
4. Place 2 ounces of the beans into the liquid and let them soak for one hour.
5. Pour out the liquid being careful not to get any on exposed skin.
6. Rinse the beans off with cool water and then remove the outer husks with tweezers.
7. Put the bean pulp into a blender or coffee grinder with 4 ounces of acetone for every 1 oz. of beans.
8. Blend the pulp/acetone until it looks like milk.
9. Place the milky substance in a glass jar with an airtight lid for three days.
10. At the end of three days shake the jar to remix everything that’s started to settle then pour it into a coffee filter. Discard the liquid.
11. When no more liquid is dripping through the filter, squeeze the last of the acetone out of it without losing any of the bean pulp.
12. Spread the filter out on a pan covered with newspaper and let it dry stand until it is dry.
13. The final product must be as free of acetone and other contaminants as possible. If it is not powdery but still sort of moist and pulpy it must be combined with the appropriate amount of acetone again and let sit for one day. Then repeat steps 9-12 again until a nice dry powder is produced.

Ricin's big allure, besides its potency, is that it is virtually untraceable and produces food poisoning-like symptoms. This toxin takes from 12 to 24 hours to bring about death, given a sufficient dosage. If the target survives longer than this the chances of recovery are quite good. There is no effective antidote to this toxin..

Ricin can be applied by ingestion or injection, it is so toxic that even inhalation of the dust can be fatal. This poison lends itself to all sorts of application methods. For example; in 1978, Ricin was used to assassinate Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian journalist who spoke out against the Bulgarian government. He was stabbed with the point of an umbrella while waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Station in London. A tiny metallic pellet was found embedded in his leg that had presumably contained the Ricin toxin.

The lethal dosage of this toxin is so small that the operative could mix a small amount with dextrose powder to make it look enough like cocaine that if it was left where a target could find it, they would get a lethal dose with just one snort.

Abrin (Rosary Pea)

Abrin is a highly toxic substance found in the seeds of the rosary pea. Abrin toxin inhibits protein synthesis, causing symptoms such as internal bleeding, intestinal upset, and the irritation of mucous membranes. The rosary pea is extremely toxic and it would only take one fully chewed seed to cause death in humans.

The seeds should be processed in a similar fashion as the castor bean (Ricin). The high lethality of this toxin allows it to be applied reliably by injection or ingestion. Very little toxin is required to produce fatality in even a healthy adult.

Polypeptide (Amanita Mushroom)

The Aminita mushroom, also known as the Death Angel or Destroying Angel mushroom, contains a deadly polypeptide toxin. The distribution of the peptides varies in the different parts of the mushroom, with the cap being the most deadly part. The toxin is taken up by the liver where it begins to cause damage. The toxin is then secreted by the bile into the blood where it is taken up by the liver again, causing a cycle of damage and excretion. The liver is slowly destroyed and is unable to repair itself, and thus, the liver slowly dissolves with no hope of repair.

Dried caps from this mushroom can be powdered and applied by ingestion. The powder from 2-3 caps will be fatal. Symptoms, including diarrhea, vomiting and sever intestinal pain, will begin to occur within hours of ingestion. These symptoms will stop after about 6-9 hours but the damage will continue. This lag period may give the target a false sense of security and he/she may not seek medical attention. However, if this poisoning is left untreated, death will result within 5-6 days.

Deadly Galernia

Also known as the Autumn Skullcap, this is another very deadly mushroom with poisoning effects identical to the Aminita. Dried and powdered caps cap be applied by ingestion.

Aconitum Napellus

This plant has had various names since antiquity including wolfsbane (because its root and raw meat were used as bait to kill wolves), monks-hood (because the hooded flower resembled a monk's cowl), leopard killer, brute killer, and woman killer. The root contains the highest concentration of toxin.

Once dried and powdered this toxin can be applied by injection or ingestion. This toxin was used in ancient times as an arrow poison throughout Europe and the Near East. In Roman times it was also used as an ingested poison. The active constituent, aconitine, has been shown to reduce the ion selectivity of sodium channels with a resultant increased uptake of sodium and other ions via these channels. This results ultimately in production of cardiac arrhythmia, depression of respiration and death within a few hours.

Oleander

Oleander, also known as Rose Laurel, is an evergreen shrub of the Dogbane family, native to the Mediterranean region of Europe. It has leathery leaves, which are opposite or in threes. The sap, used in rat poison, is very toxic; a single leaf may contain a lethal dose. The leaf tips contain the highest concentration of toxin. Dried leaves can be crushed into powder and applied by ingestion, dosage should be the powder of 3-4 leaves.

Chlorine Gas

A deadly gas can be produced by mixing pool chlorinating chemicals, such as HTH, with sulfuric acid. Prills, pucks, powdered or any other form of the HTH should be dropped into a container of the acid just before the attack. The larger the area to be filled with gas, the more HTH and acid will be required. The gas produced is visible, burns the eyes and throat and has a very strong chlorine smell. Use of this type of toxin will be most effective if deployed in crowded and poorly ventilated locations such as nightclubs, shopping malls, or subways.

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