Law enforcement officials intercepted a suspicious package containing deadly poison ricin addressed to US President Donald Trump earlier this week.
Two tests were conducted to confirm the presence of ricin, CNN reported on Saturday citing two law enforcement officials. All letters for the White House are sorted and checked at an offsite facility before reaching the White House.
A US law enforcement official told the American cable network that investigators are looking into the possibility that the package addressed to Trump came from Canada.
Ricin is a highly toxic substance extracted from castor beans that have been used in terror attacks. It can be used in the form of powder, mist, pellet or acid. If one ingests the poison, it causes vomiting and internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines, failure of the liver, spleen and kidneys and subsequent death by collapse of the circulatory system.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Secret Service are probing the matter.
"The FBI and our 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 FBI's Washington field office said in a statement to CNN.
( With inputs from ANI )
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