Americans have been jittery this week after the Boston bombings, the ricin-laced letters sent to President Obama and a US senator and endless reports of suspicious packages — scores in New York alone. So it brings a measure of relief to learn that officials at least have nabbed a suspect, Paul Kevin Curtis, in the case of the letters. And that the evidence against him seems strong.
Ricin, remember, is a deadly poison with no known antidote. Though it’s hard to kill someone by using ricin on a letter, it can’t be taken lightly.
It was used most infamously in the assassination of a Bulgarian novelist who defected to the West in 1971.
In 1978, agents with KGB ties murdered him using an umbrella tip to plant a ricin-tainted pellet in his skin.
But authorities have learned something since then, and have made changes in how we handle mail. Indeed, unlike the anthrax envelopes that in 2001 made it to some of their targets (including The Post), or the 2004 letter that made it to Sen. Bill Frist’s mailroom, this week’s ricin letters were intercepted at an off-site mail screening facility.
That’s more than just luck. So, too, will Curtis’ quick arrest — assuming he’s guilty — reflect well on America’s anti-terror and law-enforcement apparatus.