RCMP raid Montreal-area condo linked to poison-laced letter sent to White House

RCMP officers searched a condominium in Saint-Hubert on Montreal's South Shore on Monday in connection with ricin-laced envelopes sent to the White Houseas well as to several officials in Texas.

The Mountiescordoned off a street lined by new condominium buildingsin the suburban municipality. Local policeand ambulance services were also at the scene.

Cpl. Charles Poirier, spokesperson for the Quebec division of the RCMP, said a team of officers with expertise in handling chemicals and explosivesled the search. Neighbouring residences in the condobuilding were evacuated.

"The RCMP is assisting the FBI in this investigation," Poirier told reporters at the scene.

"We believe a total of six letters were sent:one to the White House and five to Texas."

Poirier said there is a link between the residence and the woman suspected of sending the letters. He couldn't confirm she lived at the residence.

WATCH |Police search condo linked to Canadian arrested for allegedly sending poisoned-laced letter:

Police search condo linked to Canadian arrested for allegedly sending ricin to White House

4 years ago

Duration 1:50

Police in Quebec searched a condo in Longueuil, near Montreal, in connection with a Canadian woman arrested at the Canada-U.S. border suspected of sending an envelope containing ricin to U.S. President Donald Trump. Court records show the woman spent time in a Texas jail for using a fake driver's licence.

The woman suspected in the casehas been identified as PascaleFerrier, according toU.S. court records provided to CBC News.

Shewas arrestedover the weekendat the Peace Bridge border crossing between Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo, N.Y.

The letter mailed to the White House was intercepted at a U.S. government facility that screens mail addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump, and a preliminary investigation indicated that it tested positive for ricin, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

Ricin is found naturally in castor beans but it can be turned into a deadly poison. Itcan be deadly afterexposure to an amount as small as a pinhead.

Ricin sent to Texas law enforcement

Poirier could not say where in Texas the envelopes were mailed, but Sheriff Eddie Guerra of the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office in Edinburg, Texas, confirmed Monday that envelopescontaining ricin were mailed to him and three of his detention staff.

Guerra said no one was injured, andhe declined to comment further as it is a federal investigation. He said more information will be released on Tuesday.

The police department in Mission, Texas, also received a suspicious letter within the last week, aspokespersonfor the department told Reuters. The department did not open the envelope and turned it over to the FBI, the spokesperson said.

Ferrierwas supposed to appear in court Monday,but her appearance has been delayed until Tuesdayafternoon, according to a spokesperson for theUnited States Attorney's Office.

She had been living in the United States last year and was arrested in Mission in March 2019 for using a fake driver's licence, court records show.

Ferrier pleaded not guilty, and the charge was eventually dismissed because it was her first offence. She spent 20 days in jail.

Stphanie Flix, who livesnear where the raid was being carried out in Saint-Hubert,said she was shockedto find her quiet neighbourhood at the centreof an international police investigation.

"It makes you scared," she said.