The woman allegedly responsible for sending a poisonous Ricin-filled letter to United States President Donald Trump inside a White House package has been arrested.
Authorities did not identify the suspect but brought her into custody during her attempt to cross the border in New York on Sunday.
Deadly letter
According to Mirror, officials believe the woman posted a package that contained the Ricin toxin and sent it to the White House while it was addressed to President Trump.
Prosecutors from Washington, DC are set to charge the suspect who is believed to be armed when police blocked her route.
The poisonous package was not able to reach the presidential residence's mailroom because authorities screen all items addressed to the White House outside of the building. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said law enforcement successfully intercepted the suspicious package last week.
The FBI said it launched an investigation to locate the sender of the package after test results from the lab found that it contained potentially fatal ricin toxin. The agency's statement wrote that it worked with the U.S. Secret Service and Postal Inspection Service partners to look into the suspicious letter.
Officials from the FBI said that at the time of the statement, no known risk threatened the public's safety.
Authorities revealed that the woman who sent the letter tried to re-enter the United States from Canada when she was arrested. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that it had cooperated with the FBI.
The White House and Secret Service refused to comment on the details of the incident.
Also Read: Trump Cautions on Disastrous Election if Mail-In Voting Continues, Supported by Attorney General
Ricin is a toxic compound that is acquired from castor beans and has previously been used in terrorism plots. It can be used in multiple forms, including powder, pellet, mist, or acid.
If a person were to ingest Ricin, it would cause nausea, vomiting, and internal bleeding within the victim's stomach and intestines. The toxin would result in the failure of several organs, including the liver, spleen, and kidneys, and ultimately, death, as reported by CNN.
Only 500 micrograms of Ricin, as small as the head of a pin, is enough to be fatal to a human adult. There are currently no specific test to determine if a person has been exposed to the toxin, and no antidote is available to treat it.
The toxin is easily made and is relatively cheap. Still, experts say its efficacy is better suited to target individual people rather than be used as a weapon of mass destruction.
Multiple incidents
According to Politico, the recent incident is not the first time that U.S. official has been targetted with the use of Ricin.
In 2018, authorities arrested a Navy veteran who later confessed to sending multiple envelopes to President Trump and a few members of his administration. The mails contained the deadly substance that Ricin is derived. Officials successfully intercepted the letters, and no reports of harm were recorded.
Officials sentenced a man from Mississippi in 2014 to 25 years in prison after he sent several letters dusted with Ricin to former United States President Barack Obama and other officials.
Related Article: Trump Predicts Nationwide Coronavirus Vaccine by April
