HIDALGO COUNTY, Tex. (NewsNation Now) — A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin addressed to the White House may have committed similar offenses in Texas, NewsNation confirmed.
A law enforcement source confirmed to NewsNation that the same suspect allegedly tried to send letters suspected of containing ricin to more than one law enforcement officers and detention facility in South Texas. That source said it happened within five days of the White House incident.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra later tweeted that his office was one of the targets. He tweeted, “I cannot make any further comments,” and said a news release would be coming Tuesday.
In addition, Mission Police said the suspect was arrested in March of 2019 for a separate incident. Mission Police confirmed someone called the police about the same woman, and she was arrested for unlawful carry of a baton and handgun, and for having a fake I.D. The fake I.D. arrest was for “tampering with a government record,” which is a Class A Misdemeanor.
The suspect was arrested over the weekend at the New York-Canada border and will appear in federal court Tuesday.
The letter addressed to the White House appeared to have originated in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. It was intercepted at a government facility that screens mail addressed to the White House and President Donald Trump and a preliminary investigation indicated it tested positive for ricin, according to the officials.
The officials were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
