Police forensic experts in Northern Ireland are today examining a suspect package addressed to a politician in London.
A police spokeswoman said a "padded envelope" was taken away after Royal Mail staff in the main sorting office for Northern Ireland, at Mallusk, outside Belfast, became concerned about its contents.
She said the envelope was addressed to a politician based in London, but would not reveale the recipient's identity.
It is the third suspicious package to have been intercepted at the sorting office in the last 24 hours.
The first two were discovered on Thursday and were also each addressed to a "dignitary" in London, said the spokeswoman.
She would not say whether all three parcels were destined for the same person.
The fire service was also called to the scene after the package was reported to police at 7.45 p.m. yesterday.
A police spokesman in Belfast said all the packages had been addressed to politicians.
He refused to disclose who the politicians were but said they were not MPs from Northern Ireland. PA