Washington, July 6 (IANS) A powdery substance discovered at the White House over the weekend has been confirmed to be cocaine, a law enforcement official confirmed.
The substance inside a zip-close bag was found by Secret Service officers on Sunday in a common storage area on the ground floor of the West Wing, which houses the Oval Office and offices of some of the President’s top aides and support staff, reports CBS News.
The discovery led to a brief shutdown of the White House.
An initial test of the substance was conducted by the District of Columbia Fire Department soon after it was found indicated it was cocaine.
Anadditional test took place on Tuesday night which also confirmed the substance to be cocaine.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the incident and said the area where the cocaine was discovered is “heavily traveled” by visitors.
“When it comes to visitors to the West Wing, they come for many reasons, obviously we do have West Wing tours that occur here on campus,” CBS News quoted Jean-Pierre.
She added that the tours took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Currently, the Secret Service is not ruling out any White House personnel, guests or visitors who might have left the zip-close bag.
The President was not at the White House over the weekend.