MONTREAL – Police have determined that suspicious packages sent to high-profile political and media targets in Quebec on Wednesday – including the riding office of Premier Jean Charest – did not contain dangerous material.
At least one of the packages – which contained white powder – was identified as actually containing baking soda and police said they were opening an investigation into the incident.
The packages were sent to governmental offices and media organizations, triggering police operations in Laval, Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke.
Montreal police said that there were nine suspicious packages in that city alone; others were mailed elsewhere, including to Charest’s office in Sherbrooke.
The premier did not comment on the incident, but his office confirmed that a staffer opened the envelope which contained a letter calling the powdered substance dangerous.
Martin Carrier, a spokesman for the police in Sherbrooke, Charest’s home riding, declined to comment on the contents of the letter.
Montreal police said the letter was part of the evidence they were gathering.
The packages have all been identified as being sent by a self-described group referring to itself as the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Quebec.
There were no reports of injuries, although some buildings were evacuated and some people were held in isolation as a precautionary measure as ambulance and firefighters were dispatched.
The packages were addressed to six provincial cabinet ministers and another Montreal area Liberal.
Also targeted was television station TVA’s Montreal headquarters; Quebecor’s head office in downtown Montreal; the Loto-Quebec office tower in Montreal; the offices of Montreal La Presse newspaper and Pirate Radio, a station in Quebec City.
Comments