HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas — The woman who is suspected of sending a letter containing the poison ricin to President Donald Trump last week has been identified.
Pascale Ferrier, from Canada, was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo and is expected to face federal charges, WGRZ in Buffalo confirmed. CBS News also learned Ferrier was carrying a gun when she was arrested.
Officials believe she is also responsible for sending poisoned envelopes to police in Texas.
On Monday, Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra confirmed over Twitter that his department received four of these letters.
"At this time due to an active federal investigation, I cannot make any further comments, but a media release will be sent out tomorrow," Guerra said in the post. "No injuries were sustained."
Another envelope was sent to police in Mission, Texas, said Investigator Art Flores, a spokesman for the border community's police department. He said no one was hurt and that the envelope was in law enforcement's custody. He declined to comment further.
Ferrier was previously arrested by Mission police and held at the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office in March 2019. She was charged with two counts of unlawfully carrying a weapon, as well as a charge for tampering with government records. She was released two months later.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office has not received one of these envelopes. A spokesperson with BCSO provided the following statement:
"The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is aware that the deadly substance ‘ricin’ has been sent via mail correspondence to several south Texas law enforcement agencies recently. Our mailroom staff is on high alert for any suspicious correspondence received at the Bexar County Jail.
Ricin is a highly toxic compound that has been used in terror plots. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. If you breathe it in, it can cause fever, cough, nausea and tightness in your chest. Low blood pressure and respiratory failure may follow and lead to death.
An FBI official told KENS 5 the letters were sent to detention facilities and law enforcement agencies in South Texas. The spokesperson didn't give specifics on how many letters and where exactly those letters ended up.
The letter addressed to the White House appeared to have originated in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have 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 RCMP would not confirm if the suspect is a Canadian or American national.