Historical Uses

The toxic effects of cyanide are well-known throughout the world. In recent history, various individuals and groups have used cyanide as an agent in murder, mass suicide and as a weapon of war. The range of settings and modes of delivery illustrate the versatility and ease of use of cyanide in intentional poisonings. Some of these recent events include:

• In July 2004 a 19-year old from Maryland was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of poisoning his best friend’s soda with cyanide.
• In 1982 seven Chicagoans were killed after ingesting cyanide-laced Extra Strength Tylenol® capsules.
• In 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana, 913 followers of Reverend Jim Jones committed suicide with cyanide-spiked Kool-Aid®.
• Cyanide (as Zyklon B) was used as an agent of genocide during World War II to kill gas chamber victims in concentration camps.
• Although, not an ideal weapon for war, due to its rapid evaporation and dispersion, cyanide was used as a weapon by France in World War I, and allegedly by Japan in World War II and by the Iraqi government in the 1980s against the Kurds.

While no would-be terrorist has successfully used cyanide to date, several attempted plots have been thwarted. The below evidence suggests cyanide was a planned weapon in the following terrorist plots:

• In the aftermath of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, investigators found traces of cyanide in the vans that caused the explosion in the parking garage.
• After the 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway, officials found precursors to cyanide in a subway bathroom.
• In 2002 British officials halted an al-Qaeda plan to use cyanide gas on the London subway system.
• Also in 2002, four Moroccans with ties to al-Qaeda were arrested for plotting to use cyanide to poison water supplies around the U.S. Embassy in Rome.
• In December 2002, officials recovered a cyanide store in Paris linked to three suspected al-Qaeda operatives.
• In May 2003 a cyanide bomb was found in the possession of white supremacists in Texas.