PACKAGES WITH SUSPECTED RICIN SENT TO PENTAGON, NAVY CHIEFS

Authorities at a Pentagon mail screening facility found two envelopes suspected of containing ricin, a poison made from castor beans, and turned them over to the FBI, officials said Tuesday.

One envelope was addressed to Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who is travelling in Europe this week, and the other to the Navy’s top officer, Adm. John Richardson, a defence official said.

The mail screening facility is on the Pentagon grounds.

Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood said the envelopes had been found on Monday. Another Pentagon spokesman said all U.S. Postal Service mail received at the screening facility on Monday is under quarantine and “poses no threat to Pentagon personnel.”