A Canadian woman suspected of sending a letter laced with ricin to President Donald Trump has been arrested.
The unidentified woman was trying to enter the United States from Canada at a border crossing in the state of New York. According to reports, she was armed with a gun.
The package containing the lethal poison was addressed to the president and intercepted by law enforcement at an off-site facility where White House mail is screened.
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
In a statement last week to CNN, the FBI’s Washington field office said that “the FBI and our U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service partners are investigating a suspicious letter received at a U.S. government mail facility. At this time, there is no known threat to public safety.”
Authorities are also investigating similar packages mailed to addresses in Texas that may be linked to the same origin address in St. Hubert, Quebec.
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Canadian authorities had been cooperating with the U.S. investigation efforts.
According to the New York Times, the suspect had been living in the United States last year and was arrested in March 2019 by the Mission, Texas police for possession of an unlicensed weapon, resisting arrest and carrying a fake driver’s license, according to a senior intelligence official.
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While in custody in Texas, it was discovered that she had overstayed her visa, and the woman was deported back to Canada.
In a statement, the FBI confirmed that “an arrest was made of an individual allegedly responsible for sending a suspicious letter. The investigation is ongoing.”
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Ricin is a highly toxic compound that is cheaply extracted from castor beans. A tiny amount the size of the head of a pin can kill an adult.
In 2013, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sending ricin to President Barack Obama.
In 2018, the FBI arrested a Utah man they believed sent castor seeds in two envelopes addressed to the Pentagon.
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