The White House has tried in recent hours to downplay the finding of cocaine inside the building, saying that the drug was found in an area frequented by outside visitors and that the president and his family were absent.
The Secret Service, in charge of the security of the State authorities, confirmed this Wednesday that the white powdery substance found on Sunday in the famous West Wing of the White House was cocaine.
The substance was initially believed to be dangerous and an evacuation was ordered. Security services normally treat any suspicious powdery substance received by post at official buildings as possible chemical or bacteriological attacks.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the US Secret Service, stated that an investigation is “ongoing”.
The discovery of cocaine sparked a wave of speculation in the US media about who could have quit the drug.