April 17 (UPI) -- German law enforcement raided the home of a 16-year-old boy whom they accuse of producing and storing a ricin-based biological warfare agent.
Police entered the home owned by the boy's parents early Thursday morning due to suspected violations of Germany's Weapons of War Act and secured "all toxic substances and other evidence," the Saxony State Criminal Police Office said in a statement to media.
The teen is accused of producing ricin in the attic of his parents' home in Zeithain, which is in eastern Saxony, and mixing it with aconitine to produce several vials of a potentially deadly biological warfare agent, Deutsche Welle reported.
The Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office has not pressed charges against the teen, who was not at the home during the raid and was deemed to be "at large."
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Local emergency services personnel blocked off a large area around the home and closed local access roads while the raid was underway.
Disease-control experts from the Robert Koch Institute participated in the search, and local prosecutors said an arrest warrant has not been issued for the teen, who has no criminal record.
Prosecutors also said they do not know if the teen's parents were aware of his activities.
No evidence of why the teen produced the ricin and vials of the biological agent was reported, but the investigation is ongoing.
Local police said Germany's Code of Criminal Procedure and the nation's Juvenile Justice Act do not warrant an arrest at this point in the investigation.
Ricin is a deadly toxin produced by castor oil plant seeds, is 6,000 times deadlier than cyanide and has no known antidote.
Just a tiny amount of ricin can cause death when ingested, injected or inhaled.
Aconitine is a deadly and naturally occurring poison that attacks the heart and is produced by the aconite plant, which also is called wolf's bane and monkshood.
As little as 2 milligrams of aconitine can cause death in adults.
