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Federal agents were questioning a Texas man last night in connection with two ricin-laced letters sent to Mayor Bloomberg — and an identical missive sent to President Obama, law-enforcement sources said.
The man, who lives in the town of New Boston, was detained after his wife “found a Tupperware [container] with what looks like ricin in the refrigerator,” a source told The Post.
She also allegedly discovered directions on “how to make ricin” — a deadly poison — in the home, sources said.
Furthermore, the man had “Googled Obama and Bloomberg,” a source said.
His wife contacted the FBI.
He was described as an Army veteran who is doing contract work for the Department of Defense, according to NBC.
About 30 federal agents were stationed on the driveway outside his house in the rural Texas town early today.
They would not comment on the investigation.
Also yesterday, another letter became known publicly, one tainted with ricin and mailed to Obama from Spokane, Wash., the FBI said. Authorities have arrested a man in Spokane in connection with that letter, which was intercepted May 22.
The town of New Boston is about 100 miles from the Shreveport, La., mail hub where the letters were mailed on May 20.
The facility handles mail from the surrounding area and parts of Texas and Arkansas.
The Secret Service revealed yesterday that the writer also sent an identical note to Obama.
That letter is being tested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for any traces of the toxin.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg yesterday paid an unscheduled, 20-minute visit to staff at City Hall’s Gold Street mail-processing unit to thank them for their service and reassure them they’re safe.
“They handled this in a professional fashion,” one official said, explaining why the ricin didn’t get spread around. “Normally, the whole building gets evacuated.”
While there, Bloomberg was shown a special chemical-containment box used to immediately house suspicious packages.
“People have always sent threatening letters to public officials, but they just haven’t had substances in them. Now that there’s ricin involved, it is unusual, to say the least,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
Also, every city employee received an e-mail yesterday from First Deputy Mayor Patti Harris explaining that the ricin in the letters to Bloomberg was crude.
“For [ricin] to be harmful, it needs to be inhaled, ingested or injected . . . The substance involved did not appear to be in a form that could be inhaled or otherwise readily ingested. Touching the envelope or letter should not be a risk,” it read.
The writer of the toxic letter also sent a ricin-spiked note to the DC offices of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a nonprofit Bloomberg helped establish.
Meanwhile, the federal Environmental Protection Agency offices at 290 Broadway were temporarily evacuated yesterday after a staffer there received something containing white powder.
Additional reporting by David Seifman, Jennifer Bain and Jamie Schram