Law enforcement have intercepted a package containing the incredibly deadly poison, ricin. The package was sent to the White House and addressed to President Trump.
CNN reports that the package was intercepted earlier this week and subjected to two rounds of testing. Law enforcement from the Secret Service and FBI confirmed that the substance in the package was the highly potent poison, ricin.
Ricin is extracted from castor beans and is often used in terror plots. When made in a powder form, it is among the most deadly poisons. If ingested, injected or inhaled, it causes nausea, vomiting and internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines. It is then followed by failure of the kidneys, spleen, liver. It then finally causes death by collapse of the circulatory system. Death from ricin occurs between 36 - 72 hours after ingestion.The FBI and Secret Service are investigating the matter.
More to come.
Comment: UPDATE: A suspect has been detained.
From RT:
Authorities detain suspect who allegedly sent package containing deadly RICIN poison to President Trump
20 Sep, 2020 22:49
A woman suspected of sending a letter containing the deadly poison ricin to President Donald Trump was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol agents as she tried to enter the country from Canada.
The suspect was not officially identified. NBC News reported her apprehension on Sunday, citing an unnamed US law enforcement official. The letter was sent to Trump at the White House but was intercepted by law enforcement. White House mail is screened at an off-site facility.
Tests confirmed that the substance in the letter contained ricin, a poison made from the husks of castor beans that can cause organ failure, collapse of the circulatory system and possible death. There is no known antidote for ricin.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police said yesterday that the letter apparently was sent from Canada. NBC reported that several other letters containing ricin also were intercepted, including one to a Texas prison and one to a sheriff's office. The FBI and Secret Service were said to be investigating the letter addressed to Trump.
A woman in Canada was identified as a suspect in the case, the New York Times said on Saturday, citing an unidentified law enforcement official.
It is not the first time Trump has been targeted with ricin. Letters containing the poison's ingredients were sent to the president and top military leaders at the Pentagon in 2018.
Those letters were also intercepted, and a Utah man, William Clyde Allen III, was charged with sending them. Actress Shannon Guess Richardson was convicted in 2014 of sending ricin-containing letters to President Barack Obama and then-New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Ricin is a poison, made in either a liquid, powder or crystal form from the husks of castor beans. It blocks the body's cells from making proteins, which leads to organ failure, a collapse of the circulatory system and possible death. It has been used in terrorist attacks. Two Islamic State supporters in Germany were arrested in 2018 for plotting a massive ricin attack.
The latest incident comes amid heightened political tensions in the US and a vitriolic presidential election race. The stakes were made even higher on Friday, with the death of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
UPDATE 2: 21 Sep, 2020 15:38
From RT:
Trump ricin letter raid: Canadian cops deploy CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL threat teams in Quebec after poison sent to White House
Canadian police say they've deployed chemical, biological and nuclear specialists in Quebec as part of an operation related to the mailing of poison to the White House. Police say the suspect sent six poisoned letters to the US.
The police operation focused on a condo in the city of Longueuil, just outside Montreal, on Monday morning. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement that "our Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives team (CBRNE) is leading the operation."
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from RT:
White House ricin mail suspect sent SIX POISON LETTERS to the US - Canadian police
The woman suspected of mailing a letter contaminated with deadly ricin poison to the White House apparently sent five more laced letters to the US, Canadian police said after raiding an apartment in Quebec.
The suspect, reportedly a woman with dual Canadian and French citizenship, was arrested by US Customs and Border Patrol agents on Sunday as she attempted to enter the US. Police, backed by specialists in nuclear, biological and chemical threats raided an apartment in Quebec connected to the woman on Monday.
"We believe a total of six letters were sent, one to the White House and five to Texas," Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Charles Poirier told reporters after the raid. Poirier did not say where in Texas the five contaminated letters were sent, but the FBI is investigating several suspicious deliveries at law enforcement and detention facilities in South Texas, Reuters reported.
The woman is reportedly being held in Buffalo, New York, and a police spokesman in Mission, Texas, told the agency that his department had previously arrested her in 2019, but had no records on the arrest.
President Donald Trump's mail is screened at an off-site facility before being delivered to the White House. As such, the likelihood of the president getting his hands on the letter were extremely slim. If he had, though, the consequences could have been fatal. Ricin, a poison made from the husks of castor beans, blocks the body's cells from making proteins, which leads to organ failure, a collapse of the circulatory system and possible death.
There is no known antidote.
Comment: UPDATE: A suspect has been detained. From RT: UPDATE 2: 21 Sep, 2020 15:38 From RT: More from RT: