There have been some large purchases of pre-paid cell phones recently.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1515879/posts
I think we are about to see some attacks in the US...very soon.
That was the first thing I thought of reading this story.
I remember that story very well. Do you know if there ever was a follow-up article?
Apparently the cell phone purchases have been going on all over the place. Here is a pretty good recent article I found:
"In America, various retailers have contacted police when noting large quantities of cell phones bought at one sweep by one gent or several gents with sloped shoulders in a subtle "sabotage mode."
"When police arrived, the gents slinked away from the cell phone section or slid under the counter what they had just purchased, then made like "usual customer."
"Target and Wal-Mart have experienced this kind of happy purchaser and informed the authorities, concluding the set-up just might be doing in a building and innocent mortals nearby."
----snip----
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_11291.shtml