Identification: hoard of forged identity papers found

When more than 100 police officers stormed a mosque in North London on Sunday, they expected to find several people that were wanted in connection with the discovery of the toxin ricin in London a few days earlier. What they did not expect was to find the trappings of organised crime and a possible centre of operations for a terrorist cell.

The Finsbury Park Mosque, which has been described as "controversial" in some press reports, is in the middle of a large Muslim community that lives in peace with a large Jewish community, many of which are very orthodox, right next door. The discovery of weapons in the Mosque is a worrying development.

More interesting than immediately worrying, however, is the discovery of a substantial pile of what police believe counterfeit identification documents including more than a hundred passports and credit cards plus some identity cards for other countries.

Ricin is a prohibited toxin under the UK's anti terrorism legislation. It is a naturally occurring toxin and is found in the seeds from the castor bean plant, Ricinus communis, are poisonous to people, animals and insects.

It is said that as little as one milligramme (one thousandth of a gramme) may be sufficient to kill an adult. The toxin is absorbed through the stomach wall and because it operates by ingestion it is relatively simple to administer. Unlike many toxins, it can be used discriminately. However, it would also be a simple matter to poison a substantial number of people in, say, a burger bar by introducing the chemical into the preparation process.

The discovery of ricin in London occurred soon after the airing of an episode of CSI, the popular TV drama about forensic investigation of crime, in which a librarian had learned about ricin in a book and "cooked up a batch in her kitchen." The castor beans are pressed to make castor oil, a traditional medicine still in widespread use in many homes. Castor oil is entirely safe because the ricin does not pass into the oil. Ricin is water soluble.

In 1978, Georgi Markov, a reformist Bulgarian journalist, was poisoned with ricin in London, apparently being stabbed with the poisoned tip of an umbrella.

Death from ricin can take up three days, says Cornell University poisons unit, and those affected suffer from severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea (sometimes with bleeding) and severe dehydration.

Treatment is stomach pumping and maintaining fluid levels but there is no antidote. According to Cornell, if those affected survive three to five days, then they will usually recover.

The plant is widely grown in Africa. Almost all those arrested are of North African origin. Several have been charged and appeared in court as a result of a number of raids on residences prior to the raid on the mosque.

A study of the use of ricin as a possible terrorist tool is at nBC-med.org