The FBI is investigating at least two envelopes containing a substance believed to be ricin discovered Monday at the Pentagon’s mail sorting center, a Defense Department spokesman said.
WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating at least two envelopes containing a substance believed to be ricin discovered Monday at the Pentagon’s mail sorting center, a Defense Department spokesman said.
The envelopes were addressed to an official or officials at the Pentagon, said Chris Sherwood, a Defense Department spokesman. They never entered the building. The mail center is located on the Pentagon grounds but in a separate facility built after anthrax was found in government mail in 2001.
The FBI took custody of the envelopes, the Pentagon said in a statement.
All mail received Monday at the Pentagon facility was quarantined, according to the statement. No Pentagon personnel were endangered.
Sherwood declined to identify to whom the packages were addressed. No one was believed to be harmed, he said.
Ricin is a deadly poison that is found in castor beans, according the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ricin exposure by inhalation or ingestion can be deadly, according to the CDC.
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