On Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Secret Service issued a statement confirming that the "unknown item" found by its officers on the ground floor of the White House on Sunday was indeed cocaine.
The incident occurred after a routine security sweep and shut down the White House briefly. The entrance where the substance was found is near where visitors drop their cellphones prior to taking a tour of the West Wing.
Law enforcement officials have stated the initial test of the substance was conducted by the District of Columbia Fire Department and it came up positive for cocaine hydrochloride. To confirm the initial test, an additional test took place late Tuesday night with the same results.
The source of the cocaine still remains a mystery as the Secret Service works to find out who had access to the area and is reviewing CCTV footage and entrance logs. The historic building is known for offering several tours of the West Wing, including over the weekend and at night.
President Joe Biden and his family have since returned to the White House from a weekend getaway to Camp David. White House spokesman Anthony Guglielmi issued a statement on Tuesday reassuring the public that the end result of the tests of the "unknown item" was non-hazardous.
The news of cocaine being found on the grounds of the White House has caused alarm amongst some as questions still linger. Not only of how the substance got in, but who left it and what it was intended to be used for.
Although, this is not the first time that a suspicious substance has been found at the White House in recent years. In November 2018, a suspicious package addressed to former President Barack Obama was found containing white powder. That was later determined to be Cornstarch.
For now, citizens in the US and across the world anxiously await the findings of the Secret Service investigation. It has been promised by Guglielmi that the agency will be working diligently and swiftly to get the facts out about the recent events at the White House.