The US Secret
Service is investigating after cocaine was found at the White House on Sunday
night.
The discovery in
the West Wing, which contains the Oval Office and other working areas for
presidential aides and staff, led to a brief evacuation.
Secret Service
agents found the suspicious powder in an area that is accessible to tour groups
while doing a routine inspection.
President Joe
Biden and his family were at Camp David in Maryland at the time.
A senior law
enforcement official told the BBC's US partner CBS News the substance was found
in a storage facility routinely used by White House staff and guests to store
mobile phones.
The White House
complex was closed as a precaution around 20:45 local time (00:45 GMT) on
Sunday after it was discovered.
A preliminary
test, which was first reported by the Washington Post, later confirmed it was
cocaine.
The Secret
Service will lead a full review of how the substance got into the White House,
officials told CBS. They said cameras and entrance logs would be examined to
determine who had access to the area where it was found.
Cocaine is a
Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has a high
potential for abuse, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
The West Wing is
a large, multi-level part of the White House that contains the offices of the
president of the United States, including the Oval Office and the Situation
Room.
It also houses
the offices of the vice-president, the White House chief of staff, the press
secretary, and hundreds of other staff who have access.
0 comments:
Post a Comment