Poison is almost ideal for a secret service agent when it comes to killing a person. In the case of modern poisonous substances, a small dose is often enough for the “object” to disappear. Moreover, the agents do not even need to directly contact the victim, it is enough to get and treat the object with poison, which the target is guaranteed to use.
In fact, nothing is known about most of the poisons of the special services of different countries of the world, except for pretentious and mysterious names in the spirit: "Folio", "Factor", "Flask", "Fagot", "Fuet". Science has reached those heights today when it is possible to create toxic substances acting on a specific person. Such will react exclusively to his physiology. Here are five of the most powerful intelligence poisons known.
Ricin
A true classic in the spy craft. Its lethal dose for humans is 80 times less than that of potassium cyanide. The poison does not smell and looks like a white powder. He is unable to pass through a human goat. For poisoning, it must be delivered inside the body. For the victim to die, the poison must be in the blood. Death comes pretty quickly.
This poison is made from the seeds of Ricinus communis (castor bean), a plant that is used to make castor oil. The most famous case of the use of this poison is the elimination of Georgy Markov, who fled to Great Britain. The operation took place in 1978. The fugitive died the next day after he had a fever and started vomiting.
Unfortunately, ricin is fairly easy to make. For this reason, his recipe is no longer a secret that only the special services own. Today, the poison is attracting the attention of terrorists. So, in 2003, an attempt to poison Barack Obama with ricin was prevented.
Saxitoxin
One of the most beloved poisons among the US CIA agents. Its main advantage is that it is virtually impossible to detect traces of this substance. Even a chemical examination will not reveal them. Previously, this poison was relied on by pilots of U-2 spy planes. They hid it in a silver dollar. Initially, this poison was mined from mollusks caught in Alaska, but later American scientists were able to synthesize it in the laboratory. In the American army and foreign intelligence, the poison is called TZ. Only 0.2 mg of the substance is enough to kill a person. Death occurs in just a few seconds.
Fluoroacetates
Modern Russian special services are mainly armed with various fluoroacetates - substances derived from fluoroacetic acid. The essence of poisons is that they infect several systems of the human body at once. These poisons are colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Can take any form: volatile, solid or liquid. The average lethal dose for humans is 60-80 ml.
The action of the poison is based on the mechanism of blocking the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Most often, death occurs within a day from heart failure. The clearest example of the use of this poison was the elimination of the terrorist Khattab. A poisoned letter was sent to him. According to sources from the FSB, not only the object itself died, but also about 10 people close to it, who also touched the poisoned paper.
Beginners
Under this code name, in the 70s, a huge amount of new, 3rd generation poisons passed through the USSR. Development was carried out at several sites. The authorities did not spare their efforts and resources to create more and more perfect and powerful recipes. It was then that the USSR came up with the idea of a binary substance.
The bottom line was that in the combat capsule with the poisonous substance, there was still unprepared poison. Before mixing, the substances were less hazardous or not hazardous at all. One of the developers of the Novichkov was the Soviet chemist Vil Mirzayanov. In the 90s, he left the country and went to the United States. Laboratory No. 12, which was located in the city of Nukus in Uzbekistan and was engaged in the development of poisons for exploration, in 2000 came under the control of funds from the United States, was closed and liquidated. According to the official version, all samples of chemical weapons were carefully eliminated.
Polonium-210
In the light of recent events, it is worth recalling another example of the liquidation of a former USSR intelligence officer. It was “liquidated” in 2006 in London with polonium-210, according to media reports. And I must admit that this detail raises many questions.
The safe dose of polonium for humans is 7 picograms. In other words, one speck of this substance is enough to kill a person. However, traces of polonium-210 will be found in the body of a killed person, even a first-year student, which casts doubt on the use of this substance by intelligence, which always relies on stealth. The only advantage of polonium-210 is that it is the most inexpensive poison. However, its use in real operations by special services of different countries is questionable.
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