‘Suspicious’ package turns out to be ‘just papers, stuff’

Homeland security and other law enforcement agencies sprang into action on Friday afternoon when a “suspicious” mail package was received at the Office of the Governor’s mail room, making the CNMI the latest to receive a package similar to those sent to governors of U.S. states and territories including Guam on May 7. Gov. Eloy S. Inos said the package was isolated, opened, and checked for any hazardous materials and turned out to contain papers, like the packages received by his counterparts in other parts of the U.S.

“It’s standard procedure,” the governor told reporters at an agricultural month proclamation signing at the Sabalu Market, referring to any suspicious package received.

Inos said the CNMI homeland security got advance notice that should they receive any such suspicious package, just like what other state and territorial governor’s offices received, they should isolate the package and assess any possible threat.

“Some governors have received similar packages…they were cleared. They opened it up and checked it out, wanted to make sure they’re not hazardous materials and so forth,” Inos said.

When asked what the contents were, the governor said, “Just papers and stuff like that.”

Press secretary Angel Demapan separately said on Saturday that the CNMI governor’s office may have been the ninth among U.S. states and territories to receive a suspicious package.

Yesterday, the press secretary issued more details about the incident. He said it was at approximately 1pm on Friday that mail room personnel at the Office of the Governor reported the receipt of a suspicious mail package.

“The area was isolated to the governor’s office mail room and CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management along with the Department of Public Safety quickly closed access to the immediate areas for safety reasons,” Demapan said.

A similar package was sent to the Guam Office of the Governor on May 7, based on Guam media reports. The Guam Homeland Security and the Office of Civil Defense gave the “All Clear” after an inspection of the suspicious package found that it was not a threat. Idaho’s governor’s office has also been among the recent ones to receive such a package.

Demapan said the package these other offices received matched the description of the package found on Friday.

“Every suspicious mail or package is handled as a serious threat by local and federal authorities. In recent years we have since received, in our case this past week, something as simple as a book, but there can be more aggressive and deadly situations involving bombs, anthrax, and ricin. It is this broad spectrum that concerns us all,” he said.

Through collaboration with partners such as the Marianas Regional Fusion Center, the CNMI was provided information ahead of time on the possible arrival of the suspicious package, Demapan said.

“Through this partnership, the CNMI was able to effectively identify, respond, and address the situation right away. No other details are available at this time as the matter has been classified as an active and ongoing investigation,” he added.