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Poison found in mail bound for White House

China Daily Global | Updated: 2020-09-21 10:05

The White House in Washington [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA-An envelope addressed to the White House and intercepted by US authorities contained a substance identified as ricin, a deadly poison that appeared to have been sent from Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP, said on Saturday.

An RCMP spokesman confirmed "it has received a request for assistance from the FBI in connection with a suspicious letter sent to the White House".

The Canadian police force added: "The FBI conducted an analysis on the substance found in the envelope. This report indicated the presence of ricin, a toxic substance".

The force said it was working with the FBI but declined to give further details.

The envelope was intercepted at a government mail center before it arrived at the White House.

Asked about the reports, the FBI said the agency and "US Secret Service and US Postal Inspection Service partners are investigating a suspicious letter received at a US government mail facility. At this time, there is no known threat to public safety."

The White House and the US Secret Service declined to comment.

Ricin is found naturally in castor beans, and it takes a deliberate act to convert it into a biological weapon. Ricin can cause death within 36 to 72 hours from exposure to an amount as small as a pinhead. No known antidote exists.

Numerous incidents

There have been numerous incidents involving envelopes mailed with ricin to US officials.

A navy veteran was arrested in 2018 and confessed to sending envelopes to US President Donald 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 Trump, the FBI Director Christopher Wray, then-defense secretary Jim Mattis, CIA Director Gina Haspel, then-Air Force secretary Heather Wilson, and Admiral John Richardson, the navy's top officer at the time. The letters were intercepted, and no one was hurt.

Two people were convicted in separate incidents of sending ricin-tainted letters to then-president Barack Obama in 2013.

In May 2014, a Mississippi man, James Everett Dutschke, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to sending letters with the deadly substance to Obama, as well as a US senator and a state judge.

Agencies Via Xinhua

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