“Sunday night the White House complex preventive closure introduced when uniformed Secret Service officers were investigating an unknown item found in a work area,” said Anthony Guglielmi, a secret service spokesman.

The District of Columbia Fire Department ordered an evacuation and “quickly determined that the item was not dangerous”. He has been sent “for further evaluation” and “an investigation into his case and how he entered the White House is pending,” the official said.

Guglielmi did not specify exactly where in the White House the substance was found or how it was packaged.

Members of the special forces of the special services found him during a routine detour of the building.

EFE