Jason Pate
Gary Ackerman
Kimberly McCloud
August 13, 2001
2000 WMD Terrorism Chronology: Incidents Involving Sub-National Actors and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear Materials
In an effort to provide an empirical basis for assessing the threat of unconventional terrorism, the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program (CBWNP) at the Monterey Institute’s Center for Nonproliferation Studies has prepared a chronology of incidents during the year 2000 involving the acquisition, threatened use, and/or actual use by sub-national actors of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) materials. This chronology covers incidents worldwide involving criminal or ideological motivations, including hoaxes and pranks. The 2000 Chronology is a sequel to the 1999 WMD Terrorism Chronology published in early 2000.
During 2000, CBWNP staff reviewed over 280,000 open-source reports, which yielded more than 2,400 relevant documents. After a careful selection process, 178 relevant incidents were identified.(1) As shown in Box 1, the 178 cases (of which 58 were hoaxes) in the year 2000 represent a slight increase from the 1999 total of 175 cases (of which 99 were hoaxes). This total shows a continuing steep rise in frequency of CBRN incidents since 1998, when the number of incidents rose to 153 after an average of 42 incidents from 1995 to 1997.
| Box 1: Incidents Per Year | |
|---|---|
| Year | Total Number of Incidents (Hoaxes) |
| 1995 | 60 (11) |
| 1996 | 35 (10) |
| 1997 | 32 (4) |
| 1998 | 153 (73) |
| 1999 | 175 (99) |
| 2000 | 178 (58) |
Geographical Distribution
As shown in Box 2, of the 178 incidents in 2000, 39 percent occurred in the United States (69 cases), a decline from 59 percent (104 cases) in 1999. The decrease is largely accounted for by the reduction in the number of anthrax hoaxes in the United States, from 81 in 1999 to 34 in 2000. (If one discounts the 34 anthrax hoaxes, only 35 actual CBRN incidents were recorded in the United States in 2000.) The region with the next highest number of incidents was Asia, showing a significant increase from 21 in 1999 to 32 in 2000. The number of CBRN-related incidents in Europe remained fairly stable, but those in the Middle East and North Africa region almost doubled from 11 incidents in 1999 to 20 in 2000. The increase in incidents over last year was even more dramatic in the states of the former Soviet Union, where the number of incidents rose from 7 to 17.
| Box 2: Incident By Region | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000 | |
| United States/Canada | 107 (104/3) | 77 (69/8) |
| Asia | 21 | 32 |
| Europe | 15 | 16 |
| Middle East & North Africa | 11 | 20 |
| Latin America | 6 | 4 |
| Russia & NIS | 7 | 17 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 4 | 8 |
| Australia & Oceania | – | 3 |
| Worldwide | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 175 | 178 |
Type of Event
The most dramatic development in 2000 was a sharp rise in the number of incidents of actual CBRN use, as shown in Box 3. The 90 cases where agents were used represent a 131 percent increase from 1999 and constitute the largest event category in 2000. The increase in the number of casualties was even more impressive, rising from 366 (with 4 fatalities) in 1999 to at least 608 casualties (and 43 fatalities) in 2000.(2) The United States and Canada experienced 28 uses of agent in 2000, more than any other region. In addition, the ratio of incidents of use to the total number of incidents in that region increased during 2000 in the United States and Canada (from 11% to 34%), the Middle East and North Africa (from 20% to 60%), and Russia/NIS (from 0% to 47%).
| Box 3: Incident By Type of Event | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000 | |
| Use of Agent | 39 (14 United States/ 13 Asia/ 5 Europe) | 90 (22 United States/ 23 Asia/ 12 Middle East-North Africa) |
| Posession | 20 | 22 |
| Attempted Acquisition | 5 | 2 |
| Plot Only | 8 | 4 |
| Hoax / Prank / Threat | 99 (85 United States) | 58 (45 United States) |
The proportion of incidents of use to total incidents, although rising, continues to be lower in the United States than in any other region. Out of 58 hoaxes worldwide in 2000, over 77 percent occurred in the United States. The large number of hoaxes in the United States suggests that the primary motivation is to cause disruption, intimidate the government, and elicit a costly emergency response rather than to cause mass casualties. This pattern contrasts with other regions, particularly Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa, where most incidents are designed to cause casualties, if not fatalities.
Nevertheless, the number of anthrax hoaxes in the United States in 2000 decreased by more than half from the previous year. This development may signal that the anthrax hoax phenomenon is beginning to taper off, or at least to stabilize. The fear and disruption surrounding the first wave of anthrax hoaxes, magnified by sensational reporting, may have inspired dozens of copycat incidents. But as anthrax hoaxes became “old news,” it is possible that such incidents were no longer reported as frequently in the press. At the same time, anthrax hoaxes may have become less attractive to potential perpetrators because they were perceived as having less political impact.
Agents Involved
Whereas incidents (including hoaxes) with biological agents dominated in 1999, the data for 2000 (Box 4) indicate a shift towards incidents involving chemical agents. However, this apparent change is largely the result of the decrease in the number of anthrax hoaxes in the United States. If one removes the anthrax hoaxes from consideration, the 2000 data include only 13 incidents with biological agents, only one less incident than in 1999. Incidents involving chemical agents remain far more common than those involving biological agents, a feature reflected in the database as a whole.
| Box 4: Incident By Type of Agent | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number of Incidents (Hoaxes) | ||
| 1999 | 2000 | |
| Biological | 95 (87) | 47 (40) |
| Chemical | 65 (4) | 95 (6) |
| Nuclear | 5 (1) | 2 (1) |
| Radiological | 5 (2) | 22 (6) |
| Unknown | 5 (5) | 12 (5) |
| Total | 175 (99) | 178 (58) |
The second significant feature is the large jump in radiological incidents from 5 to 22 between 1999 and 2000, including 11 incidents perpetrated by a single individual in Japan. Only six of the 22 radiological cases in 2000 were hoaxes.
Box 5 shows some of the agents used in incidents during 2000. Only one incident involving anthrax was not a hoax (a case of alleged but unverified possession), with the most common agents used being tear gas, acid, and monazite (a material containing thorium, a radioactive isotope). The majority of agents utilized were non-warfare “household” agents. This fact may simply reflect the wide availability of these types of materials. However, a few incidents involved military-grade agents capable of inflicting high numbers of casualties.
| Box 5: Agent Used or Possessed | ||
|---|---|---|
| Agent | 1999 | 2000 |
| Tear Gas | 22 | 25 |
| Acid | 3 | 10 |
| Monazite | – | 10 |
| Cyanide | 5 | 7 |
| Pepper Spray | 1 | 6 |
| Chlorine | – | 4 |
| Insecticide/ Pesticide | 1 | 3 |
| Rat poison | 3 | 3 |
| Strychnine | – | 2 |
| Chloropicrin | 1 | 1 |
| Salmonella bacteria | – | 1 |
| Uranium | 1 | 1 |
| HIV | 5 | 2 |
| Anthrax bacteria | – | 1 |
| Arsenic | – | 1 |
| Coxsackie virus | – | 1 |
| Ricin toxin | 1 | – |
| Tuberculosis bacteria | 1 | – |
| Miscellaneous | 21 | 35 |
| Total | 65 | 113 |
Motivations for Incidents
In 2000, a small majority of incidents involving CBRN materials were politically or ideologically motivated, a shift from the previous year, when criminally motivated incidents dominated. As shown in Box 6, the ratio of politically/ideologically motivated to criminally motivated incidents in 2000 differed considerably between regions. In certain regions the ratio was quite high, for example, 18:2 in the Middle East, 7:1 in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 15:2 in Russia/NIS. In other regions, the ratio was inverted: 7:9 in Europe, and 31:46 in the United States and Canada.
| Box 6: Incidents By Motivation | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000 | |
| Politically / Ideologically Motivated | 86 | 98 |
| Criminally Motivated | 89 | 80 |
| By region (2000) | ||
| Political/Ideological | Criminal | |
| USA & Canada | 31 | 46 |
| Asia | 17 | 15 |
| Europe | 7 | 9 |
| Middle East & North Africa | 18 | 2 |
| Latin America | 2 | 2 |
| Russia/NIS | 15 | 2 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 7 | 1 |
| Australia & Oceana | – | 3 |
| Worldwide | 1 | – |
Conclusions
In spite of ominous predictions, 2000 did not see a rapid rise in the number of terrorist and criminal incidents involving CBRN materials, although the number of cases involving use increased, as did casualties. The trend of moderate growth in the number of incidents continued, with fewer than 200 incidents reported worldwide. The United States is still the primary locus of incidents involving CBRN agents, although a decrease in the number of anthrax hoaxes resulted in a drop in the total number of U.S. incidents.
In other areas, ongoing trends persisted. In terms of agent used, 2000 followed the general pattern of a predominance of chemical over biological agents. Also, most of the incidents recorded were perpetrated with “household” agents, which carry a low probability of inflicting massive casualties. As far as perpetrators are concerned, past patterns were preserved, with a large percentage remaining unknown, and lone actors dominating the set of known perpetrators. In the past, lone actors have acted principally with criminal intent, and 2000 was no exception.
The data for 2000, as well as the combined data for 1999 and 2000, reflect a trend towards the increased use of CBRN materials by sub-national actors. Nevertheless, the data also suggest that the current threat of CBRN terrorism is characterized primarily by “low-end” agents, delivery systems, and incidents.
Incidents in 2000
Date: General 2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: unknown chemical agent
Summary: On November 29, it was reported that Hamas possessed a chemical weapon produced by a Palestinian bomb maker who was killed during a November 23 explosion.
Date: Early 2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: flesh-eating bacteria
Summary: In early 2000, an employee of a university in Riverside, California, circulated a hoax by e-mail suggesting that Costa Rican bananas were contaminated with “necrotizing fasciitis, otherwise known as flesh eating bacteria.” The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the e-mail was a hoax.
Date: Early 2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: fictitious “Klingerman” virus
Summary: Internet warnings about the fictitious “Klingerman” virus were circulated in the early months of 2000, warning people about envelopes containing sponges harboring the virus that were randomly mailed to U.S. residents. The CDC declared the Klingerman virus a hoax in May 2000.
Date: 1/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: During January 2000, a resident of Kenosha, Wisconsin, telephoned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission three times threatening to explode a nuclear facility. In two of the calls, the man demanded a sum of money, and in another he identified the target facility as a nuclear power plant in Zion, Illinois. Police traced the calls, and the man was arrested.
Date: 1/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: In January 2000, a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax was sent to an abortion-related facility in Washington, D.C. Police confirmed the letter was a hoax and did not contain any anthrax.
Date: 1/2000
Type of Event: use
Agent: unknown
Summary: In January 2000, a Russian general accused the Chechen rebels of delivering toxic wine and canned fruit to Russian soldiers in Chechnya.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Peoria, Illinois, received a letter, postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Police confirmed the letter was a hoax.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, a social security office in the Bronx, New York, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. An abortion-related facility in the same building was believed to be the actual target. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, a warning was faxed to an abortion-related facility in Birmingham, Alabama, stating that a letter containing anthrax would be delivered later in the day. Authorities confiscated the letter when it arrived and determined the incident was a hoax. This facility was bombed in January 1998.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Asheville, North Carolina, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. In March 1999, the clinic received a similar letter, and a week after that incident, a bomb partially exploded outside the clinic.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Manchester, Connecticut, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Naples, Florida, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, addressed to the security director and claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Providence, Rhode Island, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. The state health department found no evidence of a biological contaminant when it examined granules found in the letter.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, a security service in Knoxville, Tennessee, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. FBI investigators concluded it was intended for an abortion-related facility located on the first floor of the same building.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. The FBI concluded that the incident was a hoax.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, an abortion-related facility in Roanoke, Virginia, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Authorities analyzed the powdery substance and found no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/3/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3, the state unemployment office in Immokalee, Florida, that had formerly housed an abortion-related facility received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/3-4/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 3 and 4, a graduate of a high school in Indio, California, threatened to blow up the school campus using a bomb containing anthrax. He allegedly made the threat in order to get his friends out of school and was arrested on January 18.
Date: 1/4/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On January 4 in Lagos, Nigeria, during a standoff between police and five members of the Odua People’s Congress, which represents Nigeria’s Yoruba ethnic group, two suspects sprayed or poured acid on two police officers.
Date: 1/4/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 4, an abortion-related facility in Portland, Maine, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. FBI Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. A similar threat was made to the same clinic in 1999.
Date: 1/4/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 4, an abortion-related facility in Toledo, Ohio, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/4/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 4, a homeless shelter in Richmond, Virginia, received a letter postmarked in Cincinnati, Ohio, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. FBI analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. The FBI concluded that the perpetrator intended to target an abortion-related facility that had previously occupied the same location.
Date: 1/5/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 5, a medical center in Bennington, Vermont, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax, although tests conducted by the New York State Health Department Laboratory showed no evidence of contamination. Authorities believed it was intended for an abortion-related facility located near the medical center.
Date: 1/6/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 6, an abortion-related facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/10/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 10, an abortion-related facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received two letters, one containing a reddish substance, claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. FBI analysis of the letters showed no evidence of contamination. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/10/2000
Type Of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 10, a community adoption agency in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. Local police reported that analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/11/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 11, a middle school in Kenosha, Wisconsin, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax, although no evidence showed any sign of contamination. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/11/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 11, a healthcare facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received a letter containing a white powder alleged to be anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/11/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 11, a social services office in Kenosha, Wisconsin, received a letter containing a powdery substance alleged to be anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/11/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 11, a local courthouse in El Cajon, California, received a letter claiming to be contaminated with anthrax. FBI Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination.
Date: 1/12/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 12, an abortion-related facility in Racine, Wisconsin, received a letter containing a powder alleged to be anthrax. Analysis of the letter showed no evidence of contamination. A Milwaukee man was arrested and sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with this and other charges.
Date: 1/14/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On January 14, police arrested a male in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he was placing a letter, addressed to a local high school and containing a powder alleged to be anthrax, in a local mailbox. The man was eventually convicted and sentenced to 21 months in prison for this and other related charges.
Date: 1/21/2000
Type of Event: threat with possession
Agent: chlorine; ammonia
Summary: On January 21, a Chechen spokesman claimed the rebels were prepared to detonate chemical and ammonia bombs in Chechnya, Russia, to prevent the Russian troops from entering Grozny, the capital. Russian troops managed to seize and destroy much of the Chechen chlorine stockpile in Grozny, which reportedly consisted of 111 tanks.
Date: 1/23/2000
Type of Event: plot only
Agent: unknown poison
Summary: On January 23, it was reported that Chechen rebels planned to poison unknown water sources in Chechnya, Russia, in order to harm Russian Federal Forces.
Date: 1/25/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: influenza
Summary: On January 25, a gay columnist for the Internet magazine Salon.com detailed his attempt to sicken the presidential candidate, Gary Bauer, with influenza during his campaign tour stop in Des Moines, Iowa. Enraged by anti-gay comments made by Gary Bauer, the man attempted to spread germs by volunteering as a staff member of Bauer’s campaign.
Date: 1/29/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On January 29, Turkish security forces discovered a shelter in Kiziltepe, Mardin province, Turkey, that housed a weapons arsenal, which included tear gas bombs, belonging to Hezbollah.
Date: 2/2/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: chlorine
Summary: On February 2, the commander of the Russian Western Grouping of Federal Forces in Chechnya reported that 17 barrels of chlorine belonging to Chechen rebels, with attached explosives, were found in the town of Stariye Atagi, Chechnya, Russia.
Date: 2/3/2000
Type: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On February 3, Israeli police and border officials discovered a weapons cache, which included a tear gas rifle, at a refugee camp north of Jerusalem, Israel. Four individuals were arrested for weapons possession charges.
Date: 2/3/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: On February 3, the head of the Moldovian Republic of Russia Federal Security Service antiterrorism department stated that a “reliable source” alleged that the Chechen rebels were planning to terrorize Russian nuclear facilities.
Date: 2/5/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown, possibly pepper spray
Summary: On February 5, a substance thought to be pepper spray was released in the doorways of the second, third, and fourth floors of an apartment complex in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Three adults and two children were hospitalized.
Date: 2/11/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: unknown chemical agents
Summary: On February 11, in Gazientep, Turkey, authorities seized eight units of unknown chemical substances during a weapons raid of Hezbollah facilities. Seven Hezbollah members were arrested in Gazientep and other regions.
Date: 2/19/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On February 19 in Vienna, Austria, police caught anti-government demonstrators from Holland, protesting the inclusion of the rightist Freedom Party in the coalition government, with tear gas in their possession.
Date: 2/20/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On February 20, following violent clashes between political parties in Kaolack, Senegal, leaders of the opposition Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) accused activists supporting the ruling socialist party of using tear gas against PDS protesters.
Date: 2/21/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On February 21, it was reported that a female kitchen staff member of the Royal Family working at the Queen’s home in Sandringham, Norfolk, United Kingdom, threatened to poison the Queen’s food with cyanide. When the woman openly inquired about obtaining cyanide, she was reported to the senior staff and fired.
Date: 2/21/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown
Summary: On February 21, militant Muslim youths attacked and killed Christian demonstrators were protesting government plans to implement Islamic Sharia law, in Kaduna, Nigeria. The militants killed some victims with poison arrows, and while the precise number of deaths from the arrows was unknown, at least three hundred people died in the violence.
Date: 2/24/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical herbicide
Summary: On February 24 in the town of Catania, Sicily, a parish priest lost consciousness and was hospitalized after drinking wine laced with chemical herbicide. Italian police arrested a church sacristan in connection with the case after finding the same herbicide at his home.
Date: 2/25/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: HIV
Summary: On February 25, a 17-year-old student in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, stabbed 37 classmates and a supervisor with a safety pin allegedly infected with HIV. It was unclear whether blood was drawn from any of the attacks; victims were sent to the regional hospital for HIV and hepatitis tests.
Date: 2/28/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: ammonia
Summary: On February 28, a cloud of ammonia vapor was released from a liquid storage facility in Pleasant Hill, Montana, when someone opened the valve of a tank holding 1,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia. Local authorities speculated that the incident was intentional.
Date: 2/28/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent
Summary: On February 28, approximately 200 Palestinian students demonstrated on the Bethlehem University campus, in Bethlehem, West Bank, Israel. It was reported that during a confrontation the students threw “gas shells” at Israeli forces.
Date: 3/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: strychnine
Summary: In March 2000, a resident of Brisbane, Australia, allegedly sent threats to a company demanding 50,000 Australian dollars. When the company failed to deliver the money, the man allegedly laced the company’s products with strychnine at a supermarket in Brisbane, and two people were hospitalized after consuming the contaminated tablets. On December 19, police arrested the man and charged him in connection with this and another extortion case.
Date: 3/1/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: radiological agent
Summary: On March 1, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Chechen rebels had threatened to use radiological agents, obtained from nuclear materials being stored at a combine 30 kilometers southeast of Grozny, against Russian troops.
Date: 3/3/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent; toxic waste
Summary: On March 3, the captain of the Greenpeace SV Rainbow Warrior parked a forklift truck carrying a container of toxic waste in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, to protest alleged environmental pollution in the wake of the closure of a U.S. military base there in 1992. The captain and 25 other Greenpeace activists were arrested by police.
Date: 3/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: A bomb exploded on March 6 at a nuclear research institute in Rostov-na-Donu, Russia. The blast from the remote-controlled device, which injured two, was most likely tied to Mafia infighting, officials stated. Rumors of high casualties and radioactivity caused by the explosion turned out to be false, and Russian authorities reported that the institute no longer conducted nuclear research.
Date: 3/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent
Summary: After a chemical residue, believed to be insecticide, was discovered on a piece of shrapnel from an exploded Hamas bomb, it was reported on March 6 in the US News and World Report that the militant Islamic group Hamas may have used chemical weapons. Counterterrorism experts in both Israel and the United States believed that Hamas was enlisting the services of chemical weapons experts, and that a chemical bomb to be used in a future attack may have been smuggled into Israel.
Date: 3/8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown
Summary: On March 8, it was reported that poisoned food was served to hundreds of students at a religious school in Jalaludin, Afghanistan. A Pakistani news source claimed that the food killed two students and caused sixty others to lose consciousness.
Date: 3/9/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: cyanide; other chemical substances
Summary: On March 9 in Irvine, California, authorities searched the home of a doctor suspected of assisting the covert South African program to develop chemical and biological weapons, who apparently committed suicide. At his home, police found six canisters containing an unidentified chemical substance, about 30 jars containing an unknown substance, and an arsenal of up to 50 weapons. On March 14, police uncovered another cache of chemicals, including potassium cyanide, in a public storage unit rented to the man.
Date: 3/16/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On March 16 in Fremont, Ohio, a two-block area downtown was closed off for several hours after a vial containing a powdery substance and attached to a note claiming the powder was anthrax was found just outside a community service agency. Analysis of the substance showed no evidence of anthrax.
Date: 3/17/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: sulfuric acid; battery acid
Summary: On March 17, 530 followers of a doomsday cult in Kanungu, Uganda perished in a fire that consumed the cult shrine. While the deaths were first thought to be the result of mass suicide, fire authorities subsequently unearthed over two hundred additional bodies that appeared to have been poisoned or strangled. After the Kanungu fire, multiple allegations emerged regarding the cult’s use of poisoning to promote its ideology.
Date: 3/22/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent
Summary: On March 22, an employee at the IRS processing center in Ogden, Utah, opened what appeared to be a tax return. The envelope contained a tax return as well as a white or blue powder and a threatening letter. Three employees came into contact with the envelope and all three developed a mysterious rash, but it was unknown if the powder was the cause. Analysis determined that the substance was not a biological agent.
Date: 3/22/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On March 22 in Peru, it was reported that an economist running for president was bombarded with tear gas. The attackers were alledgedly political activists in support of Peru’s incumbent president.
Date: 3/24/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On March 24, a canister of tear gas was released in a nightclub in Durban, South Africa. In the stampede to escape the gas, youths trampled each other, and a brick wall collapsed on several people. Thirteen died, many due to severe suffocation according to doctors. As many as 150 total were injured, including those from gas inhalation. Four men were arrested in connection with the attack, three of whom were subsequently convicted in December.
Date: 3/24/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: biological agent
Summary: On March 24, a man and a woman held-up a video store in Melbourne, Australia, and threatened the clerk with a blood-filled syringe. The perpetrators were arrested and charged with thirteen counts of armed robbery.
Date: 3/27/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: sulfuric acid
Summary: On March 27, an unknown assassin killed the vice governor of Kamchatka, Russia, by splashing him in the face with sulfuric acid from a glass jar and delivering several blows to his head with an unknown object.
Date: 3/27/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: biological agent
Summary: On March 27, a man wielding a syringe containing an unknown substance robbed the cash register of the Educational Building Society in the Rathmines section of Dublin, Ireland.
Date: 3/29/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: coxsackie virus
Summary: On March 29, three sealed vials containing the coxsackie virus were found on board a Boeing 747 jet on the ground at Sydney International Airport in Sydney, Australia.
Date: 3/29/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: nuclear device
Summary: On March 29, a male resident of Oxnard, California, called a military base near Lompoc, California, and reported the presence of a nuclear bomb in a black brief case. Authorities traced the phone call to the man’s Oxnard home and searched the base, finding nothing. It was reported that the man had a “vision” of the nuclear bomb and wanted to warn the base.
Date: 3/29/2000
Type of Event: plot only
Agent: nuclear device
Summary: On March 29, Japanese police reported the Aum Shinrikyo cult had acquired information concerning nuclear facilities—including details relating to the security of the facilities as well as the transport of materials—in Russia, Ukraine, Japan, and other countries. It was suggested that Aum stole the information using the cult’s software companies, which had contracts with government agencies in other countries.
Date: 3/30/2000
Type of Event: attempted acquisition
Agent: possibly strontium-90
Summary: On March 30, Uzbek customs officials detained a vehicle on the Kazakhstan border headed for Pakistan and carrying 10 lead-lined containers emitting radiation 100 times the legally permissible level. The cargo was destined for a Pakistani company, and a British newspaper suggested the shipment could have been intended for delivery to Al-Qaida, Usama Bin Laden’s Afghanistan-based organization, and that U.S. intelligence sources had identified the agent as strontium-90.
Date: 3/30/2000
Type of Event: prank
Agent: unknown
Summary: On March 30, a security guard at a university in Tucson, Arizona, called university police after he spotted a small vial outside a building. Fire department officials evacuated 400-500 students and secured the vial, which was sent to the CDC for analysis.
Date: 3/30/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On March 30, a mail carrier discovered a package labeled “anthrax” that contained a jar with a powdery substance in the mailbox of a shopping center in Lincoln, Nebraska. A public health lab tested the substance and found no evidence of anthrax or any contaminant.
Date: 3/31/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On March 31, police arrested a man and a woman after discovering cyanide and dynamite hidden in a shed on their property in Uppsala, Sweden. Authorities stated that the possession of the chemicals and explosives was related to a business dispute.
Date: April 2000
Type of Event: plot
Agent: sarin
Summary: In April 2000 in Tokyo, Japan, police confiscated notebooks containing information about sarin from a car belonging to the Aum Shinrikyo cult and arrested the 21-year old daughter of its founder, Shoko Asahara, and another woman.
Date: 4/2/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: anthrax
Summary: In April 2000, a prison inmate in Polk County, Florida, allegedly sent a letter to a reporter at the local newspaper threatening to kill an undisclosed number of people with anthrax. The threat falsely indicated that an Italian terrorist organization would release anthrax in several U.S. cities by May 5 if the inmate were not immediately released. Police reported that the incident was a hoax.
Date: 4/3/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown
Summary: On April 3 in Kansas City, Missouri, three Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials came in contact with a brown grainy substance when they opened what appeared to be a tax return, and as a result developed rashes. The envelope also contained a threatening letter, but analysis showed no contamination with a biological agent.
Date: 4/5/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: HIV
Summary: On April 5, a man admitted to robbing a drugstore in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and threatening two female employees with a syringe he claimed contained HIV contaminated blood. Analysis showed that the content was tomato ketchup.
Date: 4/6/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: On April 6, a woman anonymously threatened to detonate a bomb at the nuclear power plant in Dukovany, south Moravia, Czech Republic. The woman was arrested on June 3.
Date: 4/12/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On April 12, a staff member of a Russian Duma deputy was mugged outside the deputy’s home in St. Petersburg, Russia. The attackers sprayed tear gas at the staff member and stole a bag full of paperwork.
Date: 4/16/2000
Agent: butyric acid
Type of Event: use of agent
Summary: On April 16, it was reported that in Hanover, Germany, protestors using butyric acid attacked sponsors of the German Expo 2000.
Date: 4/22/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On April 22, during protests against the federal raid to remove the six-year-old Cuban refugee, Elian Gonzales, from the home of his relatives in Miami, Florida, demonstrators threw tear gas canisters, that they may brought with them, at police officers.
Date: 4/24/2000
Agent: anthrax
Type of Event: hoax
Summary: On April 24, a Jewish community organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received a letter containing a white powder claiming to be anthrax. The letter, postmarked a day before Adolph Hitler’s birthday, made reference to a student Holocaust memorial and claimed that the Holocaust was a hoax.
Date: 4/28/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On April 28, it was reported that a “reliable source” in the Dagestani Interior Ministry stated that the Russian Special Services believed Chechen rebels possessed four containers of biological agent, presumed to be anthrax.
Date: 4/28/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: cyanide
Summary: It was reported on April 28 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that local police found a fused pipe bomb near a jar containing liquid cyanide in a house where residents were growing marijuana. The device was one of several booby traps discovered during an investigation.
Date: 4/29/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On April 29 in Veles, Macedonia, an unknown assailant(s) threw several tear gas ampoules into a group of primary school pupils, injuring 73 people.
Date: 5/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: unknown poison
Summary: Beginning May 10, a male Japanese web designer e-mailed and telephoned the headquarters of a company in Tokyo, Japan, approximately 30 times, threatening to poison the company’s goods unless a ransom of 40 million yen were paid. The man was arrested on May 31 after police tracked him to an Internet cafe from which he had sent the threats.
Date: 5/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: In May in Ogbere, Nigeria, the leader of the Gani Adams faction of the Odua People’s Congress, along with several members of the group, doused a police officer with acid while forcing the release of fellow members from the Ogbere Police Station.
Date: 5/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: insecticide
Summary: In May 2000, the Anatolia news agency reported that a man was arrested for attempting to poison the water supply of the village of Kurusaray, Turkey, with insecticide.
Date: 5/2/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On May 2 and 3, a 15-year old student made an anthrax threat and a bomb threat at a high school in Fredonia, New York. On May 6, police arrested the juvenile and charged him with two first-degree counts of falsely reporting an incident.
Date: 5/10/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: uranium
Summary: On May 10, a 9.6 kg object believed to be uranium was found with two former members of the Khmer Rouge and a local villager in Prek Mahatep, Cambodia. The three individuals were arrested by Cambodian military police.
Date: 5/10/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: oven cleaner; soil shield; cleanser
Summary: On May 10 and 11, three teenagers were arrested and accused of tampering food served at a Rochester, New York, fast food restaurant where they were employed. Allegedly over an eight-month period from September 1999 to April 2000, they contaminated food with spit, urine, and household agents including oven cleaner, cleanser, and soil shield.
Date: 5/12/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On May 12, police confiscated 200 grams of cyanide from the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party in Istanbul, Turkey, during an investigation following the arrest of 21 members reportedly responsible for planning bomb attacks on public institutions, including police stations.
Date: 5/18/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: arsenic
Summary: On May 18, students at a university in Quebec City, Canada, were poisoned with arsenic by drinking coffee from a vending machine on the campus. Police discovered a total of 150 milliliters of arsenic in the bottom of the reservoir tank.
Date: 5/19/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On May 19, during a two-day Intifada uprising known as the “Days of Rage,” Palestinian rioters threw Molotov cocktails and six bottles containing acid at members of the Israeli Defense Force during a confrontation in Hebron, West Bank, Israel.
Date: 5/21/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On May 21, an unknown person threw a tear gas canister into a discothèque in Medellin, Colombia, causing a stampede that killed three people.
Date: 5/21/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On May 21, armed government supporters in southeast Haiti used tear gas to dissuade fellow voters from voting in favor of the opposition parties in local and parliamentary elections.
Date: 5/22/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On May 22, a mob of approximately 50 people, armed with tear gas and batons, stormed a popular cultural center in Tehran, Iran, to protest a police raid of university dorms that occurred in July 1999.
Date: 5/23/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: salmonella
Summary: On May 23, inspectors from the Israeli Agricultural Development Authority discovered a machine in a moshav in southern Israel used to place counterfeit stamps on expired and salmonella-ridden eggs to be sold in Israel. The perpetrators operating the machine were apprehended.
Date: 5/24/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On May 24, students at a university in Benin threw tear gas and firecrackers into a crowded assembly hall in an attempt to prevent the election of a new student executive committee, reportedly as a result of political differences.
Date: 5/25/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On May 25, Palestinian demonstrators injured a police officer at Joseph’s Tomb, Nabulus, West Bank, Israel, when they tossed three canisters of tear gas inside a school.
Date: 5/29/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: muriatic acid
Summary: On May 29, Ellis Lake Park in Concord, California, was evacuated when two males threw homemade chemical bombs—soda bottles filled with aluminum strips and muriatic (a form of hydrochloric) acid—from a third story balcony. One person was hospitalized.
Date: 5/31/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: strychnine
Summary: On May 31 and June 5, a company in Australia received two letters threatening to contaminate its products, unless a ransom of one million Australian dollars were paid. On June 6, after a middle-aged couple fell ill from strychine poisoning, the company recalled its products in Australia. Police believed, however, that the Brisbane man sent the extortion letters himself, and that he had poisoned himself and his wife in order to get money from the firm. He was arrested in December 2000.
Date: 6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: sewer water
Summary: In June 2000, Palestinian news sources reported that Israeli settlers from the Efrat settlement had deliberately released sewer water into Palestinian agricultural fields in the village of Khadder in the West Bank.
Date: 6/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: unknown
Summary: During the first week of June 2000 in East Liverpool, Ohio, a pottery company received a letter containing a green moldy substance. Although there was no specific threat in the letter that accompanied the package, authorities suspected an anthrax hoax.
Date: 6/2/2000
Type of Event: attempted acquisition
Agent: plutonium; uranium
Summary: On June 2, it was reported that Islamic Jihad had attempted to obtain small amounts of uranium and plutonium from Russia.
Date: 6/3/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown chemical agent; possibly butyric acid
Summary: On June 3, protestors vandalized a bookstore in Santa Cruz, California, by etching the windows with a chemical compound. The perpetrators also inserted tubes that released a foul smelling substance, possibly butyric acid, through gaps under the doors.
Date: 6/5/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas; bleach
Summary: On June 5, Canadian authorities seized gas masks and tear gas bombs from individuals en route to the Organization of American States conference in Windsor, Ontario. Water pistols filled with bleach were confiscated from several demonstrators protesting the conference.
Date: 6/5/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: chemical agent
Summary: On June 5, it was reported that the spokesman of the Iraqi Free Fighters Command had claimed that the group had seized chemical weapons in eastern Iraq during a raid on a secret arms reserve in the Diyala region.
Date: 6/5/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On June 5, unknown assailants armed with acid attacked Ersain Erqozha, leader of “Education is the Future of the Next Generation,” in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Date: 6/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 6, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 6, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the National Police Agency in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 6, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the Japanese National Public Safety Commission in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 6, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the Japanese Education Ministry in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 6, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the Japanese Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/7/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: poison
Summary: On June 7 and 8, a company in Nagoya, Japan received two letters threatening to poison the company’s products unless a ransom of 50 million yen was paid.
Date: 6/7/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 7, the Japanese Science and Technology Agency in Tokyo, Japan received an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 8, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the Japanese Agency of Natural Resources and Energy in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 8, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received by the Japanese Public Security Investigation Agency in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 8, an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium, was received at the official residence of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in Tokyo, Japan. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: monazite
Summary: On June 8, the Japanese Home Affairs Ministry in Tokyo, Japan received an envelope laced with monazite, which contains the radioactive element thorium. The envelope was sent by Tsugio Uchinishi, ostensibly to warn government officials about illegal exports of uranium to North Korea. The incident was similar to nine others involving various government offices in Tokyo between June 6 and 8.
Date: 6/12/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: unknown
Summary: On June 12, a pottery company in East Liverpool, Ohio, received an anonymous package containing a green moldy substance. Although there was no specific threat in the letter that accompanied the package, authorities suspected an anthrax hoax. On June 15, the FBI reported that the substance was not anthrax.
Date: 6/13/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: sodium hydroxide
Summary: On June 13, the president of a company in Osaka, Japan, received a letter threatening to contaminate one of the company’s products with sodium hydroxide unless a ransom of 20 million yen was paid. A suspect later admitted to the crime and was arrested.
Date: 6/14/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On June 14 in Moscow, Russia, an unknown assailant armed with acid attacked a state government official.
Date: 6/18/2000
Type of Event: threat with possession
Agent: HIV
Summary: On June 18, two inmates in the Central Jail in Kuwait City, Kuwait, threatened guards and fellow inmates with razor blades contaminated with HIV.
Date: 6/19/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On June 19, tear gas was dispersed through the air vent of a restaurant in Livno, Bosnia-Herzegovina, injuring two people.
Date: 6/20/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pesticide
Summary: On June 20, it was reported that six workers had died in Punjab, India, after two of their colleagues had contaminated food with pesticide. Two suspects were captured within hours of the incident.
Date: 6/27/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chloropicrin
Summary: On June 27, Russian Emergency Situations Ministry officials defused a bomb containing chloropicrin at a sauna in Moscow, Russia.
Date: 6/28/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: poison
Summary: A company received a threatening letter postmarked in Hamamatsu, Japan, warning that the author would poison the company’s food products unless s/he was paid 50 million yen. The company found that one of its curry sauce packets was contaminated with pesticide in a Hamamatsu supermarket.
Date: 7/1/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown chemical agent
Summary: On July 1 in Santa Cruz, California, protestors using an unknown chemical substance vandalized five panes of door and window glass at a bookstore before a scheduled visit by two corporate vice presidents.
Date: 7/2/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: poison
Summary: On July 2, a student was arrested for poisoning Coca-Cola bottles in Hesse, Germany, while attempting to extort 1.5 million deutsche marks.
Date: 7/5/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On July 5, fourteen officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were injured after Protestant protesters sprayed them with acid in Drumcree, Porta-down, Northern Ireland.
Date: 7/14/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On July 14, Fijian rebels handed their arsenal, which included tear gas canisters and grenades, over to the Fijian military.
Date: 7/18/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: unknown, possibly butyric acid
Summary: On July 18, protestors smashed glass vials filled with a liquid that smelled like rotten eggs, possibly butyric acid, on the floor at a bookstore in Santa Cruz, California.
Date: 7/22/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: On July 22, a group calling itself the Supreme Military Council of Holy Warriors of the Caucasus sent a letter to the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, claiming that its members would attack Russian military, industrial, and strategic installments, including Russian nuclear plants, in response to the war in Chechnya.
Date: 7/24/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On July 24, the same day that animal rights protesters demonstrated against a conference held by the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG), law enforcement officials dealt with seven jars containing cyanide solution in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. At a local restaurant, cyanide was poured on the floor, and a note was left that referred to the ISAG meeting. Three additional jars were rolled at police officers during an altercation with protestors.
Date: 8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: neuroparalytic poison
Summary: In August 2000, several deaths occurred in the villages of Argun Gorge and Stariye Atagi, Chechnya, Russia. Chechen doctors claimed that an unknown neuroparalytic poison had caused the deaths. Both Russians and Chechens accused each other of conducting biological warfare.
Date: 8/9/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: poison
Summary: On August 9, a company in Osaka, Japan, received two letters threatening to contaminate its products unless the company paid a ransom of over 100 million yen.
Date: 8/14/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chlorine
Summary: During the week of August 14, teenagers threw a plastic bottle containing a mixture of milk and chlorine at an adolescent in Montreal, Canada, causing the loss of one eye.
Date: 8/22/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chlorine
Summary: On August 22 in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, a teenager threw a plastic bottle containing a mixture of milk and chlorine at a 14-year-old boy, causing him respiratory problems.
Date: 9/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical
Summary: The ruling Taliban faction in Afghanistan reportedly arrested six unidentified persons in connection with the poisoning of Ahmed Shah Masood, the former defense minister of Afghanistan and commander of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, who was reportedly flown to France for treatment.
Date: 9/3/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: In a clash between Serb and Muslim youths in Brcko, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Muslim youth sprayed a Serb with tear gas.
Date: 9/6/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: sedative
Summary: On September 6, the Chief of the Provincial Health Office in Phuket, Thailand, issued a warning to residents not to accept drinks from strangers in response to a spate of robberies where victims were drugged with the sedative Domingum.
Date: 9/9/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: poison
Summary: On September 9 in Jackson, Michigan, an ice cream stand worker allegedly poisoned the whipped cream he served to customers.
Date: 9/10/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: Coxiella burnettii
Summary: On September 10, two residents of White River, Indiana, found a letter containing a freeze-dried yellow powder, which the unknown author claimed was Coxiella burnettii, among papers obtained at a microbiology conference in San Diego, California.
Date: 9/12/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: rat poison
Summary: On September 12 in Jacksonville, Florida, two seventh graders allegedly contaminated the school cafeteria’s salsa with rat poison, affecting 34 students.
Date: 9/14/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On September 14 in Ibadan, Nigeria, Dauda Alaka, the leader of the Gani Adams faction of the Oodua People’s Congress, and several members of the group broke into the Kajorepo Police Post and stole police gear, including seven canisters of tear gas.
Date: 9/15/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: During raids on September 15 and 16 in Harare, Zimbabwe, police found a cache of weapons, including rifles, pistols, grenades, and tear gas in the offices of the country’s largest opposition political party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
Date: 9/15/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On September 15, an inmate who worked in the kitchen of a prison near Aylesbury, United Kingdom, was caught attempting to smuggle potassium cyanide tablets into the prison.
Date: 9/15/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: kerosene and turpentine
Summary: On September 15, a day after residents in a condominium block in Singapore had complained of a strange odor in their water supply, it was discovered that the water tank had been deliberately poisoned with kerosene and turpentine.
Date: 9/22/2000
Type of Event: plot
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: On September 22, the Ukrainian Security Services arrested a group of residents from the Chernigov, Zaporozhye and Sumy regions of Ukraine who were planning to conduct acts of sabotage on a list of Ukranian facilities, including the nuclear power facility at Chornobyl, in an effort to overthrow the government.
Date: 9/25/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On September 25 in Bialystok, Poland, a group of seven protesters, including the campaign secretary of the opposition party, was caught in possession of tear gas while being detained during a protest at a political rally for the Polish president.
Date: 9/26/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On September 26, a bakery in Kashiwa, Japan, received a handwritten letter threatening to poison the company’s products with potassium cyanide.
Date: 10/3/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: rat poison
Summary: On October 3 in Hernando, Tennessee, seven employees of a company were hospitalized after drinking coffee contaminated with rat poison.
Date: 10/5/2000
Type of Event: possession
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On October 5, protestors aiming to oust President Slobodan Milosevic stormed a police station in downtown Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and stole six tear gas guns and other weapons.
Date: 10/7/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On October 7 in Shibaa, Lebanon, Hezbollah guerrilla fighters fired bullets and tear gas canisters at Israeli soldiers.
Date: 10/8/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent
Summary: On October 8 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a 14-year-old boy sprayed a security guard with an unknown chemical substance and robbed the guard.
Date: 10/10/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On October 10, a group of Jewish youths sprayed an Arab bus driver with tear gas in the Maya Sheriam section of Jerusalem, Israel.
Date: 10/17/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: HIV
Summary: On October 17, a 20-year-old threatened to stab the manager of a store in Blackpool, United Kingdom, with an HIV-infected needle.
Date: 10/18/2000
Type of Event: prank
Agent: rat poison
Summary: On October 18, two youths, aged 14 and 15, were overheard saying that they had poisoned the potatoes served at a shelter in Grand Island, Nebraska. As a precaution, nine people were taken to the hospital and given medicine to induce vomiting, and the youths were charged with first-degree assault and making terrorist threats.
Date: 10/19/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent
Summary: On October 19, it was reported that an anti-narcotics policeman was discovered buried with acid poured over his face.
Date: 10/20/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On October 20 in Mataila village, Barabanki district, India, six lower-caste Dalit fishermen were attacked with acid by upper-caste Thakurs, due to an argument over fishing rights at the local village pond.
Date: 10/23/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas
Summary: On October 23, a group of anti-globalization demonstrators called the “G-20 Welcoming Committee” threw tear gas canisters at police officers during a meeting of the G-20 states in Montreal, Canada.
Date: 10/26/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: tear gas or lachrymal gas
Summary: On October 26, three people sprayed tear gas, or possibly lachrymal gas, at passengers, ten of whom were taken to the hospital, on a train in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Police arrested one of the suspects, but the other two escaped after spraying a station employee.
Date: 10/27/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: rat poison
Summary: On October 27, a small group of students at a school in East Montpelier, Vermont, allegedly placed rat poison pellets in rice that was to be cooked for a home economics class.
Date: 11/2/2000
Type of Event: threat
Agent: HIV
Summary: On November 2 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a woman flagged down a truck driver and allegedly threatened to puncture him with a syringe contaminated with HIV if he did not take her to Reading, Pennsylvania.
Date: 11/4/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On November 4, a person threw acid in the face of a college student in Bogra, Bangladesh. The student was hospitalized for serious acid burns.
Date: 11/5/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: acid
Summary: On November 5 in Bogra, Bangladesh, a person suffered serious burns after being attacked with acid.
Date: 11/5/2000
Type of Event: prank
Agent: nuclear facility
Summary: During a random search on November 5 at a nuclear plant near San Luis Obispo, California, security officers came across an object resembling a bomb. The object was not a bomb and had been intended to be an internal joke within the facility.
Date: 11/9/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: chemical agent, possibly lye
Summary: On November 9, a man threw a corrosive chemical, possibly lye, at a newsstand clerk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, causing severe injuries.
Date: 11/12/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: cyanide
Summary: On November 12, two persons died after consuming liquor contaminated with cyanide in Royapettah, India.
Date: 11/23/2000
Type of Event: attempted acquisition
Agent: magnesium
Summary: On November 23, one of four trailers carrying 20 metric tons of high purity magnesium imported from China was diverted from its final destination, the Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, India. Four people were arrested, and the material was recovered.
Date: 11/24/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On November 24, a company in Cape Coral, Florida, received an envelope containing a white powder with a note that said the substance was anthrax. The FBI later determined that the incident was a hoax.
Date: 11/28/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On November 28, a tourist agency in New York, New York, received an envelope bearing an Arizona postmark and containing a brown powder and a note claiming the substance was anthrax. The FBI determined that the powder was a household chemical and not anthrax.
Date: 12/1/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pepper spray
Summary: On December 1, pepper spray was disseminated in a bus tunnel in downtown Seattle, Washington, and five people were treated for shortness of breath and eye irritation.
Date: 12/4/2000
Type of Event: hoax
Agent: anthrax
Summary: On December 4, an organization in Chicago, Illinois, received an envelope bearing an Arizona postmark and containing a dark powder and a note claiming the substance was anthrax. Tests determined that the powder was not anthrax.
Date: 12/9/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pepper spray
Summary: On December 9, four people using pepper spray vandalized a department store in Golden, Colorado, to protest the working conditions of Nicaraguan garment workers.
Date: 12/10/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pepper spray
Summary: On December 10, customers at a coffee shop in San Jose, California, were evacuated after a substance similar to pepper spray was released. This incident appeared to be related to similar disturbances at three other local stores.
Date: 12/10/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pepper spray
Summary: On December 10 at a department store in San Jose, California, 11 customers were hospitalized after a substance similar to pepper spray was released. This incident appeared to be related to similar disturbances at three other local stores.
Date: 12/10/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pepper spray
Summary: On December 10 at a store in San Jose, California, 12 people were hospitalized after a substance similar to pepper spray was released. This incident appeared to be related to similar disturbances at three other local stores.
Date: 12/10/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: pepper spray
Summary: On December 10 at a store in San Jose, California, 35 customers were hospitalized after a substance similar to pepper spray was released. This incident appeared to be related to similar disturbances at three other local stores.
Date: 12/20/2000
Type of Event: use of agent
Agent: iodine-125
Summary: On December 20, a man was arrested for releasing iodine-125 at a subway station in Osaka, Japan.
Sources:
(1) For a detailed description of the history of the WMD Terrorism Database and the methodology and classification procedures involved, see the 1999 WMD Terrorism Chronology posted on the Web at http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/vol07/72/wmdchr72.htm.
(2) This figure excludes two controversial cases in Nigeria and Uganda in 2000, in which the number of people actually killed by CBRN materials (as opposed to other methods) is not precisely known. If these two cases are included, the casualty figure increases to 1,690 casualties (including 1,226 fatalities).
