Man faces 10 years' jail after trying to buy enough puffer fish poison to kill 100 people,
Detectives have charged a man with possession of a deadly toxin found only in puffer fish toxin in an amount that could kill 100 people.
Edward Bachner allegedly posed as a doctor when ordering the poison known as tetrodotoxin.
He was was arrested yesterday morning when he met an undercover federal agent who delivered the toxin to him in Algonquin, near Chicago.
Bachner recently ordered 98mg of the poison, which is usually used in research, from a New Jersey chemical supply company, the FBI said.
'It's an unusual amount,' said FBI Special Agent Robert Holley, head of the Chicago office's counterterrorism unit. 'That's a lot. It doesn't take much to kill.'
Bachner allegedly posed as Dr. Edmond Backer to buy the toxin over the Internet.
The FBI said in a statement that all of the toxin was recovered and the public was in no danger.
Bachner, a financial planner and co-owner of a small technology company, was formally charged late yesterday and ordered held without bail.
Possessing the toxin, commonly known as TTX, without the proper federal approval is a felony.
Tetrodotoxin—a nerve toxin isolated from pufferfish or made synthetically—is typically used by researchers at universities or pharmaceutical companies.
Authorities were alerted to Bachner's alleged purchase of the TTX when an employee at the New Jersey chemical supply company contacted the FBI's Newark office.
Agents from that office then contacted Chicago FBI officials, said FBI Special Agent Jane Rhodes, an agency spokeswoman.
Authorities said that when agents determined there was no Dr. Edmond Backer and found out the company Bachner claimed to represent, EB Strategic Research, did not exist, they set up a 'controlled buy'.
Neighbors who know Bachner and his wife said they were taken aback by his arrest.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the FBI.
Tetrodotoxin is so potent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can 'produce rapid and violent death'.
It is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Puffer fish, called fugu in Japan, is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets once the poison is removed.
Eating the toxin can cause paralysis, vomiting, heart failure and death.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Do not mess with Fish 30
And you thought fish were fun! Well this man did and see what he got!
Man faces 10 years' jail after trying to buy enough puffer fish poison to kill 100 people,
Detectives have charged a man with possession of a deadly toxin found only in puffer fish toxin in an amount that could kill 100 people.
Edward Bachner allegedly posed as a doctor when ordering the poison known as tetrodotoxin.
He was was arrested yesterday morning when he met an undercover federal agent who delivered the toxin to him in Algonquin, near Chicago.
Bachner recently ordered 98mg of the poison, which is usually used in research, from a New Jersey chemical supply company, the FBI said.
'It's an unusual amount,' said FBI Special Agent Robert Holley, head of the Chicago office's counterterrorism unit. 'That's a lot. It doesn't take much to kill.'
Bachner allegedly posed as Dr. Edmond Backer to buy the toxin over the Internet.
The FBI said in a statement that all of the toxin was recovered and the public was in no danger.
Bachner, a financial planner and co-owner of a small technology company, was formally charged late yesterday and ordered held without bail.
Possessing the toxin, commonly known as TTX, without the proper federal approval is a felony.
Tetrodotoxin—a nerve toxin isolated from pufferfish or made synthetically—is typically used by researchers at universities or pharmaceutical companies.
Authorities were alerted to Bachner's alleged purchase of the TTX when an employee at the New Jersey chemical supply company contacted the FBI's Newark office.
Agents from that office then contacted Chicago FBI officials, said FBI Special Agent Jane Rhodes, an agency spokeswoman.
Authorities said that when agents determined there was no Dr. Edmond Backer and found out the company Bachner claimed to represent, EB Strategic Research, did not exist, they set up a 'controlled buy'.
Neighbors who know Bachner and his wife said they were taken aback by his arrest.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the FBI.
Tetrodotoxin is so potent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can 'produce rapid and violent death'.
It is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Puffer fish, called fugu in Japan, is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets once the poison is removed.
Eating the toxin can cause paralysis, vomiting, heart failure and death.
Man faces 10 years' jail after trying to buy enough puffer fish poison to kill 100 people,
Detectives have charged a man with possession of a deadly toxin found only in puffer fish toxin in an amount that could kill 100 people.
Edward Bachner allegedly posed as a doctor when ordering the poison known as tetrodotoxin.
He was was arrested yesterday morning when he met an undercover federal agent who delivered the toxin to him in Algonquin, near Chicago.
Bachner recently ordered 98mg of the poison, which is usually used in research, from a New Jersey chemical supply company, the FBI said.
'It's an unusual amount,' said FBI Special Agent Robert Holley, head of the Chicago office's counterterrorism unit. 'That's a lot. It doesn't take much to kill.'
Bachner allegedly posed as Dr. Edmond Backer to buy the toxin over the Internet.
The FBI said in a statement that all of the toxin was recovered and the public was in no danger.
Bachner, a financial planner and co-owner of a small technology company, was formally charged late yesterday and ordered held without bail.
Possessing the toxin, commonly known as TTX, without the proper federal approval is a felony.
Tetrodotoxin—a nerve toxin isolated from pufferfish or made synthetically—is typically used by researchers at universities or pharmaceutical companies.
Authorities were alerted to Bachner's alleged purchase of the TTX when an employee at the New Jersey chemical supply company contacted the FBI's Newark office.
Agents from that office then contacted Chicago FBI officials, said FBI Special Agent Jane Rhodes, an agency spokeswoman.
Authorities said that when agents determined there was no Dr. Edmond Backer and found out the company Bachner claimed to represent, EB Strategic Research, did not exist, they set up a 'controlled buy'.
Neighbors who know Bachner and his wife said they were taken aback by his arrest.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to the FBI.
Tetrodotoxin is so potent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can 'produce rapid and violent death'.
It is 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Puffer fish, called fugu in Japan, is consumed by thrill-seeking gourmets once the poison is removed.
Eating the toxin can cause paralysis, vomiting, heart failure and death.
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