Two Israelis Arrested in east Tennessee Transporting Suspicious Materials

Various local news broadcasts ^ | May 9, 2004 | who knows what evil?

[who knows what evil?]

My apologies in advance on this story; I just happened to catch this on several different newscasts a few minutes ago, and I am going by memory as best I can. Unicoi County (Tennessee) sheriffs arrested two Israeli men after a high-speed chase down mountain roads in this east Tennessee locale. While the sheriff was in pursuit, local witnesses noticed that materials were being thrown from the truck as it sped by, well over the posted speed limits. These witnesses were able to locate some of these items; one of which included a jug whose contents became "unusually hot" after the ingredients inside were shaken together. (Goes into the "Hey, y'all...watch this" category, WKWE.) Upon arrest, the police noted that the cab of the truck contained a "Learn How to Fly" brochure, along with passports and Florida licenses that "just didn't seem to add up". The Israelis claimed they were "just in the process of moving some furniture up to Boston". The police also stated that these two Israelis are "not being cooperative in any way." The FBI is investigating the nature of the substance in the jug that was recovered, which has been classified as an "inflammable fuel."

My questions:

1. What ELSE was in this (big yellow) 25-foot Ryder truck?
2. If they were travelling from Florida to Boston, what were they doing on a two-lane back road in the mountains of east Tennessee, several hundred miles WEST of Interstate 95; the most direct route from Florida to Boston?
3. What is the volatile substance in the jug, and why did they wish to avoid getting caught with it? (Why else would they pitch it?)
4. Why are they interested in "Learning How to Fly?"
5. Were they REALLY going to Boston, or were they MORE interested in the nearby Nuclear Fuel Services plant, or, G-d forbid, the huge Eastman Chemical Plant, about thirty miles further up the road?

It will be interesting to see if the national media picks up on this.

[stlnative]

The sheriff said witnesses saw the men throw something from the truck while they were being pursued. A witness brought officers a vial containing an unknown substance, he said.

Lawson said the vial contained a "fuel source,'' but he added that it hasn't been identified and authorities were treating it with caution.

Harris said the liquid in the 12-ounce plastic container was thick, like liquid drain cleaner. It will be sent to either East Tennessee State University or the FBI's crime lab in Knoxville to be tested.

----- The truck, rented from a Ryder office in the Miami area, was being held in the county garage, Harris said. He also said the men had a storage unit rented in Mars Hill, N.C. ----

Snipped from here

[mv1]

Almaliach Naor and Shnuel Daran, Tel Aviv, Israel at TN jail.

Picture from article Lawyers appointed for 2 Israelis

[Diddle E. Squat]

Show me proof that those were Jewish terrorists, and I will apologize. I'll be watching for anything you can forward in private messages on reports of this story, too. The word, "Israeli" might be correct in describing the citizenship of a lot of radical Islamists, but it misleads most of the public here to think they were Jews.

Nice try, I never claimed that they were terrorists, the disagreement was about your contention that law enforcement was sloppy because the detainees must be Arab, and my assertion that law enforcement likely acted properly and the names released 24 hours after the stop were likely correct. From posts #422 and 442:

Not that I'm an expert, but they look a heck of a lot more Jewish than Palestinian to me....

After doing a background check the FBI says they are here legally, so apparently Shmuel Dahan and Almaliach Naor are their real names, and they are from Israel. See post #440.

OBTW, notwithstanding the odd behavior, they may in fact be innocent. Or maybe not.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Thanks for the update.

[familyop]

"I hope sincerely that you stay out of the South and never come anywhere near it. We can do quite well without any fool-acting people like yourself."

A historian informed me with the following that the area was part of the North.

"Just for your info, the Majority of East Tennesseans were Union symphatisers. They raised several Dozen Federal Regiments fighting to restore the Union."

"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matthew 5:22, KJV).

[rmlew]

When was the last time Arab terrorists shooting Israeli civilians were called terrorists?

[Robert_Paulson2]

every county sheriff, every state dea official, and every dea agent, says THEIR area is the number one for such and such drug....

it gets them more money when they are the worst problem, and more leniency on warrants, wiretaps and asset forfeitures via secret grand jury activities.

[momofsixgirls]

ping

[My Dog Likes Me]

At first I thought the photos betrayed something suspect about these foreigners.
On closer examination, I think they're just reacting to their first meal of grits and biscuits!

The local cops do license plate profiling all the time down here in the Deep South. Especially the backwoods. I wonder what state's plate they displayed.

[Rebelbase]

"Mars Hill"

I had a girlfriend who went college there. Podunk doesn't begin to describe that place.

[don-o]

The local cops do license plate profiling all the time down here in the Deep South. Especially the backwoods. I wonder what state's plate they displayed.

These goobers aroused suspicion by speeding down the old mountain road, instead of being on the interstate. If they were just lost furniture movers, they should have been glad to see a local deputy. (We get a lot of furrners who can't drive our mountain roads. Probably would have just gotten a warning.)

Then by not promptly stopping for the blue lights. Then producing a fake ID.

Then by, evidently not being cooperative with questioners.

Looks like it will all turn on what is in that container, and if it is bad, whether it can be connected to them.

[SJackson]

The coverup begins :>)

Chase suspects held without bond

By Julie Ball, Staff WriterMay 10, 2004 10:54 p.m.

MARS HILL - Federal agents investigating two Israeli men charged with eluding Tennessee authorities found only furniture in searching a storage unit in Madison County Monday, according to the Unicoi County, Tenn., sheriff.

Sheriff Kent Harris said FBI agents searched the facility, which the men reportedly rented, but they found no evidence of anything suspicious.

The men, 22-year-old Shmuel Dahan and 19-year-old Almaliach Naor have told investigators they were on their way to West Virginia to deliver furniture.

They were arrested Saturday after a chase.

Both men were held without bond Monday afternoon as authorities sought to verify their passports.

Once the men were apprehended, officers found a fake Florida driver's license with Naor's picture on it in a duffel bag in the truck and a business card from a Florida flight instructor in one of the men's wallets.

The card read: "Learn how to fly" and "Fulfill your dream of flying" and listed the name and number of a Florida flight instructor.

The discovery led Harris and others to express concern about security at the Nuclear Fuel Services plant in Erwin. The plant makes nuclear fuel for submarines.

Harris spotted the Ryder truck the men were in about 3 p.m. Saturday on Old U.S. 23 near Flag Pond, Tenn. The truck was moving erratically and traveling at speeds of more than 60 mph, well above the maximum speed on the curvy road, according to Harris.

The sheriff said he turned on his blue light and siren, but the truck continued for more than two miles before stopping. Some people attending a cookout on Old U.S. 23 reported seeing someone in the truck toss out a brown, plastic container during the chase, Harris said.

"They (the people at the cookout) heard us coming and saw them throw that out," he said.

Dahan is charged with reckless driving, evading arrest, littering and false identification. Naor, a passenger in the truck, is charged with false identification.

Dahan's attorney, William B. Lawson of Erwin, said the men might have gotten lost and ended up on the mountain road.

"They got lost, big time," Lawson said. "It doesn't seem like they have anything to hide."

Harris said early Monday afternoon he was waiting on the results of tests on the liquid substance in the brown container. The bottle contained a "gooey liquid" and some sort of pellets. The bottle appeared as if it had once held pesticides of some sort, but the label was missing. Field tests done by officers turned up no evidence of drugs. "We don't know exactly what's in it yet," Harris said.

The men maintain the container did not come from the truck, according to Harris. The Ryder truck contained old furniture.

The Florida flight instructor, Nissan Giat, said he met Naor at a moving company where the Israeli man works. Giat said he gave Naor one of his cards, but the man didn't express interest in flying lessons.

Giat said Naor was recently released from the Israeli army. "He's a good guy," Giat said. "He's not a terrorist."

Harris said the men rented the truck in Florida, where they were living and working.

The FBI confirmed both men are in the United States legally, and neither man has a criminal record, according to Harris. The sheriff was waiting for word Monday on the status of one of the men's passports.

Staff Writer Clarke Morrison contributed to this report.

[veronica]

The coverup begins :>)

The Mossad is so darn clever. :))

[Piranha]

It's starting to sound like a non-story.

They were here legally, they had no incriminating materials with them in their truck (except for business cards for a flight instructor who was a fellow Israeli whom they apparently knew).

Some locals found an anonymous vial (!) and claim that the two Israelis threw it out of the window, but they deny it. How could anyone prove ownership of the vial, or prove that it had not been tampered with between the time that they allegedly threw it out of the window and the time that an unrelated third party brought it to the police and claimed that they threw it?

Chances are, they were called "uncooperative" for not confessing to having thrown out the vial or telling the police what was in it. Maybe that is because the vial wasn't theirs.

It will be interesting to find out what's in the vial; if it's harmless stuff, that will be the end of this case anyhow.

[SJackson]

Since it appears their passports were current and they appear to have been moving furniture, both easy things for the FBI to check, I'd say we have a couple of speeders, which answers the questions early in the thread about why this hasn't hit the national media.

Of course we'll be reading about this incident in assorted places for years.

[OrangeDaisy]

A historian informed me with the following that the area was part of the North.

"Just for your info, the Majority of East Tennesseans were Union symphatisers. They raised several Dozen Federal Regiments fighting to restore the Union."

I'm confused. I'm from "the south" and when someone uses the words north & south, they are usually referring to geographic location. Is there a post in this thread that talks about the Union & Confederacy?

[Piranha]

People who have not been in NYC during the past 20 or so years would be surprised by the number of Israelis involved in the moving business.

Israelis are like Australians in their love of travel. Typically, after the army they travel for a year or two before returning to Israel. Generally, they like to travel throughout the US (esp. NYC, LA and Miami/Key West), but pretty much they go all over. They also love to go through Latin America and the Far East. In fact, the biggest Passover Seders held every year are hosted by the Lubavitch Hassidim in, I think, Nepal, where thousands attend.

There are a few companies in NYC (the ones that come to mind immediately are Moishe's Movers and Sabra Movers; there's also a "Nice Jewish Boy Movers" that are filled with itinerant Israelis who work for a year or so before moving on. They advertise prices lower than the union shops and get quite a bit of business.

My experience with them in the early 1990s was dismal. They took hours longer than they promised, avoided truck routes, which were faster, stopped for lunch during a trip up from Lower Manhattan to Riverdale (on my time!) and at the end told me that they generally get a nice tip. At least nothing was broken.

I have seen Israeli movers in Chicago on at least one occasion.

[Space Wrangler]

My brother-in-law lives on Boone Lake in JC. We will be up there for his daughter's graduation on Memorial Day weekend. The fact that there is a muslim population there is intriquing to me. I read something a couple of years ago about mosques and islamic populations starting to crop up in the backwoods areas and less populated mountain counties here in East TN. Have you heard of this phenomenon? I read the article, and started looking into it, but could find no more info at all. The article (and I can't for the life of me remember where I saw it) stated that many rural communities of the 'mountain' counties had mosques springing up and everything. I know there was a sizeable population of muslims in Knoxville, but that's to be expected in any metro area. So you say JC has a muslim population??? That is very interesting. I'd welcome any more background you can give me on this.

[Diddle E. Squat]

It was a rental truck.