Toothpaste can kill

Homeland Security says toothpaste tubes could be used to smuggle explosives onto planes heading to Russia for Sochi games

• The new threat is aimed at flights bound for Russia during the Winter Olympics
• The Sochi games have received numerous threats of attack from terrorists groups, prompting some U.S. lawmakers to advise Americans not to attend
• However, both President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry said they would not dissuade Americans from going to the games
• 'We feel that everything has been done that can be done to try to guarantee people's safety and security,' Secretary Kerry said Wednesday

US security chiefs have issued a warning that terrorists could be smuggling explosives on to flights bound for Russia by hiding them inside toothpaste tubes.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning to American airlines, saying terrorists were determined to strike during the Sochi Winter Games. 

New intelligence indicates that toothpaste containers could hold ingredients used to make a bomb.

New threat: Homeland Security warned airlines today that toothpaste bottles could contain ingredients to make a bomb, and that the new threat was directed at flights bound for Russia in time for the Olympic games

While the department focuses on domestic threats, they say the most recent tip is not directed at flights entering the United States - just Russian bound flights. 

'Out of an abundance of caution, [Department of Homeland Security] regularly shares relevant information with domestic and international partners, including those associated with international events such as the Sochi Olympics,' DHS said in a statement. 

'While we are not aware of a specific threat to the homeland at this time, this routine communication is an important part of our commitment to making sure we meet that priority.'

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who ran the Salt Lake City games in 2002, responded to the latest threat on CNN, saying he would still attend the games if he could. Kerry says he's too busy to go, but if he could he wouldn't feel uncomfortable bringing his family. 

The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia have been the target of several terrorist threats in the months leading up to the games. 

Perhaps one of the biggest threats is the so-called 'Black Widow' - a Chechen woman named Ruzan Ibragimova, the wife of a killed Islamist militant, whom Russian authorities fear infiltrated the Olympic city before security was put up to carry out an attack. 

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Real threat: Russian authorities believe Ruzan Ibragimov, also known as the Black Widow, has infiltrated the Olympic city and plans to carry out an attack during the games

Posters with her face have been plastered all across the city on the Black Sea, but she has yet to be found. 

The threat of the Black Widow and Russian authorities refusing the help of U.S. intelligence has led the government to issue a warning to Americans traveling to the games, saying a terrorist attack is 'very likely'. 

Multiple U.S. lawmakers have spoke about the threats, saying they don't believe the games are safe and wouldn't take their families. 

'I would not go and I don’t think I would send my family,' Senator Angus King of Maine told CNN. 

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Dangerous: The Sochi games have been the target of several terrorist threats in the months leading up to the Winter Olympics

President Obama won't be attending the games, but he said he wouldn't discourage Americans from attending to support their country. 

'I believe that Sochi is safe and that there are always some risks in these large international gatherings. I'm always going to feel even better if it's inside the United States because then we have full control over what happens,' the president said. 

Secretary of State John Kerry issued a similar sentiment on CNN Wednesday, saying Americans can go to the games but should remain alert if they do.  

'We feel that everything has been done that can be done to try to guarantee people's safety and security... Be careful. Think about where you are, just as we did, always, in America post-9/11,' Kerry said.