Article published on October 18th, 1984.

A young housewife buys Morinaga candy at a "direct sale" counter in front of Morinaga headquarters in Tokyo yesterday.

NO NEW poisoned candies were reported today. Police said they were getting information on a "suspicious" man shown in videotapes taken in a supermarket where poisoned candy was found Oct. 7, but that he had not been identified.

A Japanese antenna-maker near Tokyo reported to police today that 10 ounces of cyanide, enough to kill 900 people, had been stolen from its office together with bank savings books. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities believed the theft had no connection with the extortionists. The sale of cyanide is regulated in Japan, and supplies usually are kept locked up.

Morinaga became the target of extortionists in mid-September. In the first of more than 30 typewritten threats, the group demanded 100 million yen ($400,000) from Morinaga, one of Japan's largest candymakers with annual sales of about 120 billion yen ($500 million). The extortionists call themselves "The Monster with 21 Faces" after a popular mystery series.

POLICE IN the Osaka area have found 14 boxes of Morinaga candies containing lethal doses of cyanide. No one is known to have been harmed so far. The scare has dominated the news since Oct. 8, when the extortionists first wrote major newspapers that they carried out their September threat to Morinaga by putting 20 boxes of tainted candies on store shelves but with clear warnings on them. They added, however, that if their demands were not met they would plant 30 unmarked boxes in stores in 10 days.

That deadline came Television talk shows have invited mystery writers to discuss the group's operating methods and language experts to analyze the tapes of telephone calls from the extortionists. More than 1 million people have called a special number to listen to the tapes, while about 350 people have volunteered information.

ON MONDAY, Morinaga set up a "direct sale" counter at its headquarters in Tokyo because "we have to keep in contact with our customers even if the sales are insignificant," said Eiji Satsuta, one of about 40 employees working at the temporary stall.

TOKYO (AP) Japanese parents are declaring neighborhood candy stores off limits to their children as extortionists broaden their cyanide candy scare to force a manufacturer to pay them $400,000. So far, the extortionists have put clear warnings on the poisoned candy packages they slipped onto store shelves. However, they have stepped up their campaign against the manufacturer, Morinaga Confectionery Company., with a threat to put cyanide-laced candy on store shelves this week with no warnings on packages.

"MOTHERS AROUND here have taken precautions, but we can't be 100 percent safe if the extortionists strike with unmarked cyanide candy," said Yukiko Tsuda, 37, of Nishinomiya City, near Osaka. "We keep the TV switched on all day for news."

"We've instructed our children to buy candy only when with their parents and to be very careful," Noboru Yamashita, vice principal at Seimeigaoka, Osaka's largest elementary school, said in a telephone interview.