NEW DELHI: Federal law enforcement officials are investigating reports of suspicious letters, potentially laced with fentanyl, sent to election offices, a Justice Department spokesperson said.
Suspicious letters were sent to an election office in Georgia and the federal law enforcement officials are probing it, reported CNN.
The department's spokesperson said that the FBI and US Postal Inspection Service are investigating this matter.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in a statement, said Fulton County, Georgia – which includes large swaths of Atlanta – had been among the election offices in multiple states targeted with suspicious letters.
Officials in Georgia said the letter received by Fulton County was suspected to contain fentanyl.
“We’re working with our state and federal partners to determine if any additional Georgia officials are being targeted,” Raffensperger said. “Domestic terrorists will not trample on our right to free and fair elections.”
Raffensperger, while addressing the news conference, called on the elected officials and political candidates to condemn the activity and invoke the death of his son to convey the seriousness of the matter.
“Some people like to call fentanyl a drug, but it’s actually poison,” he said. “It’ll kill you … very quickly and very easily. It’s very dangerous.”
“We lost our son five and half years ago due to fentanyl overdose. We know how deadly this stuff is,” Raffensperger said.
Fentanyl was found in an envelope received by election officials Wednesday in King County, Washington – home to Seattle – the county’s elections director Julie Wise told CNN.