The Orange County Sheriff’s bomb squad and a hazardous-materials team were called to the Fullerton Police Department Sunday afternoon after a resident turned in an envelope containing a suspicious white substance, authorities said, according to the O.C. Register.
Bomb squad? This sounds more like brujeria – otherwise known as Santeria, or Voodoo/witchcraft. Now I suppose it could be some toxic substance, such as Ricin, but let’s face it, Fullerton is a lot more diverse today than ever. Why not brujeria?
Brujería is the Spanish word for witchcraft. Brujeria also refers to a mystical sect of male witches in the southernmost part of Argentina. Both men and women can be witches, brujos and brujas respectively. Brujos is the plural term that can mean either a group of male witches or both male and female witches (Wikipedia).
I have never heard of brujas using the U.S. mail though. They usually leave white powder on your doorstep. A website that purports to have information on how to deal with curses explains what to do if this happens at your home:
If there is a big surprise that you have sowed salt in the door, DO NOT TOUCH OR BAR: the best way to override this aggression is to always have a large bottle of holy water after the salt spray with it, take hose and get rid of the salt. Then you can go to a specialist.
During the investigation, Amerige Avenue was closed between Malden and Highland avenues, on the north side of the Police Department. The street reopened shortly after 4 p.m., according to the Register.