[ad_1]
An envelope addressed to the White House that was intercepted prior to reaching its destination was found to contain a deadly poison.
Authorities said ricin was discovered within the letter, which was opened at a government facility where mail was addressed to the president. Donald trump and the rest of the staff is reviewed.
Ricin is a poison that occurs naturally in castor beans and can be deadly to humans; Exposure to as little as the head of a pin can kill an adult within 36 to 72 hours.
In a statement, the FBI said agents were working to investigate “a suspicious letter received at a United States government mail facility” and that “there is no known threat to public safety.”
The FBI is leading the investigation together with the Secret Service and the US Postal Inspection Service.
American media, including The New York Times and CNN, reported that the letter was sent from Canada.
The White House and the Secret Service declined to comment.
Ricin has addressed the White House on several previous occasions.
A Navy veteran was arrested in 2018 and confessed to mailing envelopes to Trump and members of his administration that contained the substance from which ricin is derived.
Authorities said the man, William Clyde Allen III, sent the envelopes with ground castor beans to the president and several other senior officials, including FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Others targeted were then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, Admiral John Richardson, who at the time was the senior Navy officer, and then-Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson.
Four years earlier, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after sending ricin-dusted letters to then-President Barack Obama and other officials.
[ad_2]