Suspicious packages, some containing fentanyl, sent to elections offices

Four county elections offices in Washington state were evacuated Wednesday after they received envelopes containing suspicious powders — including two that field-tested positive for fentanyl — while workers were processing ballots from Tuesday’s election.

The elections offices were located in King County — home of Seattle — as well as Skagit, Spokane and Pierce counties, the Secretary of State’s Office said in an emailed news release. Local, state and federal agents were investigating, and no one was injured, officials said.

A senior U.S. official familiar with the investigation told CBS News on Thursday that roughly a dozen letters were sent to addresses in California, Georgia, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state. This official was unaware of letters being found anywhere else.

The substance found on an unspecified number of the letters — not all of them, just some — included traces of fentanyl, the official said, adding that the substance overall was described as “nonharmful.” The substance was identified using preliminary field tests, not more rigorous lab tests at FBI facilities, the official said.