Teen mixed deadly poisons in attic: prosecutors

German investigators have raided the home of a 16-year-old boy who had allegedly been mixing cocktails with the deadly poison ricin in the attic, police and prosecutors said.

The boy had produced and stored "several vials" of a mixture of ricin and aconitine, both plant-based poisons that can kill in small doses, police in Saxony and prosecutors in the city of Dresden said.

Ricin is classified as a biological weapon of war under Germany's War Weapons Control Act, which the boy is accused of violating.

The boy's motive was unclear, the authorities said, adding that police had cordoned off the streets around his home in the Saxon village of Zeithain.

Police said they were going through the "purpose-built laboratory" the boy had set up and "the aim is to seize all toxic substances and other evidence."

The boy has no prior criminal record, they said. It was unclear if his parents knew of his alleged activities.

The Bild tabloid reported that specialists from the Robert Koch Institute, a public health body, were also present at the property.

Produced by processing castor beans, ricin is lethal in minute doses if swallowed, inhaled or injected. It is 6,000 times more potent than cyanide, with no known antidote.

In 2018, an Islamist and his wife were convicted of planning a biological bomb attack in Germany with ricin.

The pair had ordered castor seeds, explosives, and metal ball bearings on the internet to build a toxic bomb.