18-Wheel Advisory Update
On Missing Cyanide Truck
By J.J. Johnson
Published 05. 14. 02 at 18:25 Sierra Time
U.S - MEXICAN BORDER - Let's get you caught up on the missing cyanide truck 
that seems to have slipped under the Homeland Security color-coded radar. 
The Sierra Time was among the first online publications to make this warning 
public. We need to make a slight clarification as to where the truck was 
stolen.
The tractor-trailer, hauling a hundred drums of cyanide, was hijacked in the 
state of Hidalgo along Highway 85, north of Mexico City - not Texas. It's 
been missing since May 13, 2002.

Border patrol agents along Texas and Mexico are now on high alert - We're 
talking LEVEL 1. Here's the description, according to the Texas Department 
of Public Safety, and verified by the FBI:

White 2002 Kenworth Tractor Trailer
Mexico license plate number 980CZ6.

No one on either side of the border has a clear idea where this potentially 
lethal cargo is, or what the hijackers plan to do with it. You can assume 
that if it was stolen, the plans probably aren't noble ones (unless you're 
on some Jihad mission). Another clarification we must make from the initial 
report is that, according to Mexican authorities, there were three gunmen - 
not two. There was no information given about the description of the men 
involved, but you can make an educated guess - and probably be correct.

A truck stopped in the Northwest Monday was found with traces of explosives, 
and men holding Israeli passports.

U.S. Customs agents say they are looking very carefully at everyone and 
everything crossing the border - including pedestrians, but experts in the 
trucking industry said that even with the heightened security, the deadly 
cargo could be disguised.

Landstar Safety's Steve Gullekson told a local television station in Dallas, 
"They could transfer it to another truck, mark it as something else, and, 
unless they look suspicious, nobody's gonna look at it."

A dose the size of a quarter can kill. Cyanide compounds usually have an 
almond-like smell, but if you get a whiff of this stuff, you're already in 
trouble. Most cargo shipments look like a white, granular or crystalline 
solid. Since we're talking 100 drums of this stuff (do the math), we'll need 
to go over its killing power.

Inhalation, indigestion or with contact (skin or eyes) with vapors, dust or 
substances can cause severe injury, burns or death.

Reaction with water or moist air will release toxic, corrosive, and 
flammable gases. It may also generate lots of heat that will increase the 
concentration of fumes in the air.

Fire will produce irritating or corrosive gases.

Source: CDC

If this truck is located, and flips, detonates etc., look for the 
authorities to evacuate everything in at least a � mile radius. And you want 
to make sure you stay upwind from this stuff. It is a toxin and not a 
communicable illness.

If contained in a truck, it can be disguised, but this is one truck that 
probably won't be stopping at a weigh station.