Intercepted envelope addressed to the White House contained ricin

Federal officials intercepted an envelope addressed to the White House that contained the ricin poison, a law enforcement official said. The Associated Press.

The letter was intercepted at a government facility that filters mail addressed to the White House and US President Donald Trump, the official said. A preliminary investigation indicated that it tested positive for ricin, a poison naturally found in castor beans, the official said.

The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity on Sunday (NZT).

Federal investigators were working to determine where the envelope originated and who mailed it. The FBI, Secret Service and the US Postal Inspection Service were leading the investigation.

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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.”

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, FBI Director Christopher Wray, along with then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, the Admiral John Richardson, who at the time was the Senior Officer of the Navy, and then Secretary of the Air Force, Heather Wilson. The letters were intercepted and no one was injured.

In 2014, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after sending ricin-dusted letters to President Barack Obama and other officials.