The Washington Post stated that the Washington fire department determined a white powder found late on Sunday within the White House to be cocaine. This discovery forced the temporary closure of a portion of the presidential complex.
The Secret Service directed other inquiries to the fire department, which declined to comment, but did confirm to Reuters that an “unknown item” had been found and caused part of the White House to be closed.
“On Sunday evening, the White House complex went into a precautionary closure as officers from the Secret Service Uniformed Division investigated an unknown item found inside a work area,” a Secret Service spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Joe Biden, the president, was not present. He was spending the weekend at the presidential retreat, Camp David. When emergency workers and firefighters arrived, they quickly tested the material. These initial tests revealed that the powder was cocaine.
“The DC Fire Department was called to evaluate and quickly determined the item to be non-hazardous,” the Secret Service added. The spokesperson said there was “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how the substance entered the White House.
The Washington Post reported that “a firefighter with the D.C. department’s hazardous materials team radioed the results of a test” of the item, citing an online database of emergency responder communications. The radio dispatch said, “We have a yellow bar saying cocaine hydrochloride.”
Two “officials familiar with the matter” confirmed to the Washington Post that the substance found at the White House was cocaine.
On Friday, Biden and his family departed for Camp David. On Tuesday, they arrived back at the White House, where the president was supposed to speak to the country’s teachers union and host a barbecue to commemorate the U.S. Independence Day, according to Al Jazeera.
