http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020515/ap_on_re_la_am_c a/mexico_truck_robbery_2

"Truck With Deadly Chemicals Stolen
Wed May 15, 1:54 PM ET

MEXICO CITY (AP) - A truck carrying 10 tons of deadly sodium cyanide was stolen in central Mexico, and officials on Wednesday said they have no information about what the robbers were planning to do with the poisonous material.

Officials said it is unlikely the three armed men who stole the truck Friday were plotting to use it in a terrorist attack here or in the United States. Truck robberies are common in Mexico, particularly in the region just north of the capital, Mexico City.

Most likely, the robbers just wanted the truck so they could sell its parts and have no interest in the dangerous chemicals, said Rogelio Alvarado, spokesman for police in Izmiquilpan, a town near where the robbery took place.

"It's a typical robbery. In this case, we're just worried that they're going to dump the cargo, and, not realizing what it is, it's going to contaminate the area where it's left," Alvarado said Wednesday.

Officials added, however, that they are not ruling out ties to terrorism because they have scant information about why the men stole the truck and where they were planning to take it.

Federal and state police have been patrolling the highways since Friday, looking for the vehicle without luck, officials said.

Sodium cyanide is used in gold and silver mining. If inhaled or ingested, it attacks the nervous system and can cause a person to suffocate within minutes.

The truck had left from Queretaro, a colonial city 115 miles from Mexico City, and was headed to Pachuca, capital of Hidalgo state, 33 miles northeast of the capital."

[ 15 May 2002: Message edited by: HTWLSS ]