A police team specializing in investigations related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear substances and explosives is carrying out an operation in a southern suburb of Montreal related to a ricin-laced letter sent to U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian police officials said Monday.
Officials with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s federal police force, tweeted Monday morning that their Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) team is leading the operation in Longueuil, which also includes the municipality’s police service and the fire department.
Our Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives team (CBRNE) is leading the operation. Police and Fire teams from Longueuil are also on site. All necessary measures have been taken to ensure public safety.
— Quebec RCMP (@rcmpqc) September 21, 2020
“All necessary measures have been taken to ensure public safety,” RCMP officials tweeted.
Officials with Longueuil police tweeted that they are assisting the RCMP in carrying out a search at a property on Vauquelin Blvd. and that a residential building has been evacuated as a safety precaution.
Le @PoliceSPAL sommes présentement en assistance à la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) afin d’effectuer une perquisition sur le boulevard Vauquelin à Longueuil dans le secteur de Saint-Hubert. Une évacuation préventive a été effectuée dans un immeuble à condos. https://t.co/peGeEokxMa
— Police de Longueuil (@PoliceSPAL) September 21, 2020
The search comes hours after U.S. officials confirmed that a woman who allegedly posted a letter containing the poison ricin to the White House has been detained at the Canadian border with the United States.
“I can confirm that an arrest was made at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York,” Mike Niezgoda, a public affairs officer with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency told Radio Canada International.
The individual was trying to enter the U.S. state of New York from the Canadian province of Ontario, officials said.
Police take part in an operation on Vauquelin Street in Saint-Hubert, Que., Monday. An RCMP spokesperson said there is a link between a woman suspected of mailing a ricin-laced letter to the White House and the residence being searched. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)
The woman is expected to appear in a Buffalo court on Tuesday at 4 p.m., a spokesperson for the Department of Justice told Radio Canada International. However, officials at the DOJ’s Western District of New York were tightlipped about possible charges facing her and the individual’s identity.
However, U.S. court records obtained by CBC News identify the woman as Pascale Ferrier.
The letter containing the potentially deadly poison had been intercepted earlier this week before it reached the White House.
RCMP in Quebec say they’re assisting the FBI in an investigation into suspicious packages that were mailed to the White House and other places in the United States. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)
Charles Poirier, spokesperson for the Quebec division of the RCMP, said the Mounties are assisting the FBI in the investigation. Initial information from the investigation suggests that the letter originated in Canada, an RCMP spokesperson, told CBC News on Saturday.
There have been several prior instances in which U.S. officials have been targeted with ricin, which can be derived from castor oil plants.
A navy veteran was arrested in 2018 and confessed to sending envelopes containing the substance from which ricin is derived to Trump, CIA Director Gina Haspel, FBI Director Christopher Wray and James Mattis, then the secretary of defence. At least two of the letters made it to a Pentagon mail sorting facility.
The Utah man has yet to be tried in the case and could face life in prison if found guilty.
With files from CBC News and The Associated Press
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