Monday September 14, Brooks County Sheriff’s Office say they received an envelope addressed to Sheriff Urbino “Benny” Martinez. The office says inside the envelope was a letter and “suspicious powdery substance.”
The Sheriff’s office placed the envelope in a controlled area with limited access.
The United States Postal Inspector advised the Sheriff’s office of the potential hazards from the envelope. Contents in the envelope are suspected to be Ricin. After this discovery the letter was located and secured for recovery and analysis.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations in collaboration with Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, Brooks County Sheriff’s Office, The United States Postal Inspector’s Office and the Texas Transnational Intelligence Center are currently investigating.
According to the Sherriff’s office, “The investigation has yielded a 53-year-old female Canadian Citizen, Pascalle Ferrier as a suspect. Ferrier was previously booked into the Hidalgo County Jail by Mission Police Department for weapons possession and later released to immigration authorities. Investigators were able to identify the suspect through details she provided in the letters which included the letter being sent from Canada and being jailed in the Hidalgo woman’s detention facility. FBI conducted forensic examination which revealed latent fingerprints that matched the suspect.”
Ferrier was taken into custody in Buffalo, New York on Sunday September 20. Ferrier allegedly sent ricin to the White House. Ferrier is also believed to have sent poisoned envelopes to other Texas law enforcement agencies.