US student ‘produced ricin in dorm’

WASHINGTON – A university student in the United States has been charged with possessing a potentially lethal amount of the powerful toxin ricin, court documents showed.

Daniel Harry Milzman, from Georgetown University in Washington, told the FBI earlier this week that he produced the ricin himself in his dormitory room about a month ago, having bought the precursor materials in local stores.

He wore goggles and a dust mask when he was extracting the ricin, according to the court documents, which said he had produced 123 milligrams and stored the material in a plastic bag secured with hockey tape.

The concentration of the ricin was such that it could have been deadly if inhaled, the documents said, adding that Milzman had told his residential adviser on Monday that he had created the poison and showed the adviser the plastic bag.

He was interviewed by FBI agents the next day.

It was not immediately clear what the student intended to do with the substance.

But FBI Washington Field Office spokeswoman Jacqueline Maguire told AFP that “based on investigation, we do not believe there is any connection to terrorism.”