![Mr Darmanin speaking at a lectern](/content/dam/world-news/2024/07/28/TELEMMGLPICT000386749099_17221856561590_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqLqe_TO1RTmFMadMJTZh9g20nF3XvNrksZIMyNeScT4Q.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Letter ‘laced with the plague’ sent to France’s interior minister
As well as a black powder, the envelope addressed to Gerald Darmanin contained a letter bearing racist insults
![Mr Darmanin speaking at a lectern](/content/dam/world-news/2024/07/28/TELEMMGLPICT000386749099_17221856561590_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqLqe_TO1RTmFMadMJTZh9g20nF3XvNrksZIMyNeScT4Q.jpeg?imwidth=680)
French police are investigating a suspicious letter addressed to the interior minister that tested positive for the plague.
Discovered at a mail-sorting centre near Dijon, the letter was addressed to the town hall of Roubaix, in the north of France outside Lille, for the attention of Gérald Darmanin, the minister of the interior.
Police were called when the unstamped envelope, with undisclosed “inscriptions” on its back, roused suspicions among workers. Inside, they discovered a black powder and a letter containing racist insults.
Preliminary tests – carried out by the police unit that deals with chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological and explosives matters – revealed a “slight positivity for the plague”, the disease that killed millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Today, transmission to humans is most common through rodent flea bites or by the handling of an infected animal.
False positive?
The local prosecutor’s office warned that the initial test results could be a “false positive” and said further analyses are being carried out. Full results are expected on Monday.
An investigation has been launched for “defamation and insults”, but that may change depending on test results.
Mr Darmanin has yet to speak publicly about the letter and police have not released any information about the possible sender or motive.
The letter is only the latest incident to keep the country on edge during the Paris Olympics, after sabotage of high-speed rail lines hours before the start of the opening ceremony on Friday.
Fibre optic cables were cut and set on fire along the TGV line network in co-ordinated attacks overnight from Thursday to Friday, affecting the travel plans of 800,000 people, including visitors who were Paris-bound for the Games.
![Cables in a ground-level conduit, which can be seen to have been on fire](/content/dam/world-news/2024/07/28/TELEMMGLPICT000386833655_17221857634170_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqFMoGfZEsqkb9hxPSnBxCC6ZdF_kqumTkXdfzbeA1CCA.jpeg?imwidth=350)
On Saturday, several French media outlets received the same message of support for the saboteurs, in language characteristic of ultra-Left militants that poured scorn on the Olympic Games.
“They call this a party? We see it as a celebration of nationalism, a gigantic staging of the subjugation of populations by states,” the email read.
The message stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attacks and was signed “an unexpected delegation”. Sources close to the investigation told AFP the email was “not really serious” and more an expression of support for the saboteurs.
The message was sent through the platform Riseup, described as an online communication tool for groups campaigning for social change.
Russian spy
In advance of the Games, experts warned of potential Kremlin sabotage and the threat of drone, cyber and terror attacks.
Last week, Kirill Gryaznov, a 40-year-old Russian national and suspected spy for the Kremlin, was arrested in Paris on charges of sharing “intelligence with a foreign power with a view to provoking hostilities in France”.
Mr Gryaznov was arrested after French police intercepted a phone call in which he allegedly said: “The French are going to have an opening ceremony like there has never been before.”