Mexico seeks stolen tractor-trailer with cyanide

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Mexican police were searching Wednesday for a tractor-trailer carrying 10 tons of deadly cyanide stolen over the weekend after three armed men held up the vehicle north of Mexico City.

Authorities have launched a public appeal, warning of the danger of cyanide and asking the thieves to surrender. It's unclear whether the robbers were aware that the vehicle was carrying the chemical, police said.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO KTBC's Jeff Napshin talks with truckers and a toxicology expert about the dangers of a truckload of cyanide stolen over the weekend (May 15) Play video

The tractor-trailer, which was transporting the cyanide in 96 drums, was held up Friday on a stretch of highway near Ixmiquilpan in the state of Hidalgo, 150 miles north of the Mexican capital, federal police spokesman Oscar Hernandez said.

The cyanide was being transported to a metals processing plant in Pachuca. The highway where the robbery occurred leads to Nuevo Laredo on the Mexico-Texas border.

Investigators said they suspect that the tractor-trailer was stolen to be stripped down and sold as spare parts, and that it is being hidden outside the Hidalgo state.

Cyanide, which is difficult to detect and smell, is a toxic chemical used in insecticides and the refining of gold and silver.

Richard Sanchez, a spokesman for Texas state Rep. Kino Flores of Mission, said the FBI had been alerted, and agencies manning ports of entry along the Rio Grande River that borders Mexico were on the lookout for the tractor-trailer.