More tests were being done.
The US Secret Service said Tuesday it was investigating an “unknown article” found inside the White House compound on Sunday that sources said was described in radio traffic as a cocaine-like substance.
“On Sunday evening, the White House complex went into a precautionary lockdown as Secret Service Uniformed Division agents investigated an unknown item found inside a work area,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. in a statement.
Exterior view of the north side of the White House in Washington DC, May 8, 2023.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
“The DC Fire Department was called to evaluate and quickly determined the item was non-hazardous. The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of entry is pending. the White House,” he said.
Sources told ABC News that DC Fire and EMS radio traffic described a cocaine-like powder substance found on the White House grounds and preliminary results of an initial field test.
“We have a result in the [inaudible]” a traffic voice is heard saying, “We have a yellow bar that indicates cocaine hydrochloride.”
The powder was found in the West Wing area of the White House, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Some visitors can tour parts of the west wing, and tours usually take place on weekends.
Asked if there were any tours last weekend, the Secret Service would not confirm, saying, “Those are details that are relevant to our investigation and we can’t get into them.”
Cocaine hydrochloride it can be used as an anesthetic or to control bleedingbut it is also considered to have effects similar to crack, according to the to study National Library of Medicine National Center for Biotechnology Information.
“The physiological and psychoactive effects of cocaine are similar regardless of whether it is in the form of cocaine hydrochloride or crack cocaine (cocaine base),” the study says.
The “item” was sent to a Secret Service lab for further testing, the sources said.
President Joe Biden was at Camp David at the time.
The White House on Tuesday referred reporters’ questions about the matter to the Secret Service.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Quinn Owen contributed to this report.
