Texas Man Accused of Trying to Sell Cyanide
May 14, 2008— -- The FBI has arrested a Texas man for an alleged conspiracy to sell cyanide to a white supremacist group, officials confirm to ABC News.
Agents arrested Jeffrey Don Detrixhe in Oklahoma, Monday. The FBI used an informant to break up the alleged deal in which he believed he was selling the cyanide to the Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist group prevalent in U.S. prisons.
Between March and April, the informant and Detrixhe allegedly held several discussions that were covertly recorded by the FBI. In many of the conversations, Detrixhe commented about mixing the cyanide with acid to release poisonous gas.
According to the court papers, during a March 27, 2008, meeting, Detrixhe claimed, "I could kill a city with that son-of-a-bitch. Euthanize a whole village."
Court documents say the informant estimated the container holding the substance to be about four feet tall, two feet wide, and that it weighed 100 pounds.
During the meetings, Detrixhe allegedly negotiated the price with the informant, eventually settling on $10,000 and an AK-47 assault rifle.
"Detrixhe told the witness that the cash he would be getting for the cyanide was 'blood money,'" the criminal complaint said.
Detrixhe has been charged in a one-count criminal complaint with possession with intent to use a chemical weapon. Julia O'Connell, a federal defender in Oklahoma's eastern district, said Detrixhe has waived his right to an identity hearing and will be extradited to Texas where the case originated.
According to a law enforcement official, the takedown was an orchestrated FBI sting using an informant, but federal officials were concerned about his alleged possession of the cyanide and where it originated.
The informant, who had been an inmate in a county jail in November 2007, told the FBI that Detrixhe had approached him about transporting the cyanide, which he showed to him at a residence in Higgins, Texas.
"Detrixhe did not open the container for the witness but Detrixhe claimed it contained 100 pounds of cyanide briquettes," the criminal complaint alleges.
