04 July 2023 , 15:30
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Members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service were conducting routine patrols through the White House on Sunday evening.
There wasn't much going on — President Joe Biden was at Camp David in Maryland for the long holiday weekend, and it was a relatively quiet Sunday night at the executive mansion.
The Secret Service found it as they scoured the residence's library — a suspicious white, powdery substance.
Agents immediately sounded the alarm and evacuated the building. The D.C. Fire Department was called in, as was a Hazmat team and paramedics.
The White House was placed on an elevated security alert during the incident. The calm of the weekend was over.
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The White House was evacuated after authorities found cocaine inside (Getty Images)The “unknown item” that forced an evacuation of the White House has been found to be cocaine, a preliminary test has found.
“We have a yellow bar stating cocaine hydrochloride,” a firefighter stated in a radio communication on Sunday night.
“Bag it up and take it out,” he told the Hazmat team.
The US Secret Service is still investigating the suspicious substance that prompted the President’s home to be cleared on Sunday.
Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said more tests will be conducted to confirm that the substance is, in fact, cocaine.
The Secret Service said the agency “does not comment on an active investigation” and declined to comment further. It's unclear what the repercussions will be for the individual or individuals found responsible for the cocaine.
An investigation is still underway into the drugs that were found at the White House on Sunday (Getty Images)Ultimately, the authorities determined that the substance was harmless and did not pose a threat to anyone inside the building.
Authorities are now trying to determine how the substance got into the White House after a Secret Service agent found the powder during a routine sweep of the premises.
It remains unclear exactly where in the library the cocaine was found or how it was packaged — but authorities said the amount discovered was small.
This wasn't the first time drugs have been discovered inside the White House.
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In 2018, rapper Snoop Dogg took to Instagram and admitted to smoking marijuana in the executive mansion during a 2013 visit. He said he wasn't bothered when he did.
And according to the Washington Post, British actor Erkan Mustafa smoked weed and did lines of cocaine in the White House during then-First Lady Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign against drugs.