ARGENTINA: POLICE FIND HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICAL RECENTLY STOLEN AND MISSING FOR TWO DAYS

Record ID: 640544

  • Title: ARGENTINA: POLICE FIND HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICAL RECENTLY STOLEN AND MISSING FOR TWO DAYS
  • Date: 29th August 2002
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (AUGUST 26, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE CONTAINER WITH TOXIC CARGO WAS FOUND (4 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NEIGHBOR JUANA LIZARDO SAYING "My spouse went outside and he saw that they pinched it, smelled it, looked at it and said no, it is not a white dust, but to one who doesn't know chemicals, we didn't know what it was. During it all we stayed calm. Furthermore, the police was there making sure that nobody got near it. And after we learned that it was cyanide." SCU ANOTHER NEIGHBOUR SPEAKING MV NEIGHBOR ENTERING HIS HOUSE; SLV NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE CHEMICAL WAS FOUND
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Crime,General,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAB7NOBKK6GMID7GAEHXFM950TX
  • Story Text: Argentine police have found and returned to its rightful owners a highly toxic chemical that was recently stolen and missing for two days.
    Police announced on Monday (August 26, 2002) that they recovered a dangerous cyanide derivative that was stolen last week and was missing for two days.
    Some 20 tonnes of the substance, whose scientific name is trichlorotriazine, was stolen on August 19 as it was being delivered to the headquarters of the agro-chemical company Atanor.
    Security forces said on Saturday (August 24) that they had found the entire stolen cargo in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
    "The cargo was intact, the total weight also and no bag had been opened," said Police Commissioner Oscar Garcia on Saturday.
    However a press release later issued by the Police Information Service of Buenos Aires, said that they had only recovered 12 of the 20 missing tonnes.
    But the Department of Environmental Crimes in the Police Department said authorities were still examining and weighing the cargo and that it is premature to make any final determination.
    The recovered substance was transported to a secure location and later returned to the Atanor business that had imported it from Belgium.
    The cyanide derivative had a texture and appearance similar to sugar, but could release a lethal gas if it contacted water.
    "It could be that they (the robbers) were wrong with the cargo or when they had the cargo in their power, discovered through the media the danger that the cargo could have, it scared them and they abandoned it," said Garcia, attempting to reconstruct the scenario of what happened to the chemical.
    In the tranquil neighborhood of Villa Diamante, where the chemical was discovered, residents showed surprise upon learning that the substance had been there.
    "My spouse went outside and he saw that they pinched it, smelled it, looked at it and said no, it is not a white dust, but to one who doesn't know chemicals, we didn't know what it was. During it all we stayed calm. Furthermore, the police was there making sure that nobody got near it. And after we learned that it was cyanide," said neighborhood resident Juana Lizardo.
    The chemical is used for farming and is also used in gold mines to strengthen metals.
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