Posted on 08/14/2006 10:56:09 AM PDT by Arec Barrwin
Terrorists in Caro?
By Amy Joles Staff Writer
CARO — Whether sold for profit or as bomb detonators, the purchase of 80 disposable prepaid cell phones by three Palestinian men raised eyebrows at Wal-Mart SuperCenter Friday morning.
“Are they terrorists or involved with terrorism?” asked Caro Chief Benson Page. “I can’t prove that right now. But at this point, I have a suspicion of that.”
FBI agents arrived in Caro shortly after 10 a.m. Friday to question the men who purchased the phones earlier that same morning, 1:50 a.m.
The same kind of phones - which do not require purchasers to sign a contract - were used to detonate bombs terrorists used in the Madrid train attacks in March 2004.
Local authorities were notified of the suspicious purchase by Wal-Mart employees after the men had went through check lanes multiple times. Wal-Mart has a policy of allowing only three disposable phones to be purchased per customer.
Caro officer Mike Gebauer pulled over the trio in front of R & R Towing in Caro, along M-81.
“When the officer pulled them over, he witnessed one of the subjects opening the packaging of one of the phones,” said Page.
About 1,000 disposable cell phones were located inside the men’s rented Dodge van, which had a Texas license plate.
“They are quite open about what they are doing,” said Page Friday morning. “They say they are purchasing the phones around the country for about $20 a piece and selling them in Texas for $38 each... They say they are raising money for school.”
The majority of the phones were stored in cardboard boxes, without any packaging. The men also told authorities they separated the batteries from the phones.
“There’s a couple of reasons why you would do that,” said Page. “If you are using them as a bomb detonator, you don’t really need a battery in there, do you? And secondly, batteries can be used in methamphetamine production.”
“Are these young men terrorists or the terrorists profiting from the sale of these phones? I don’t know,” said Page. “I would suspect so - most likely.”
Back in January, federal agents launched an investigation into a surge in purchases of disposable cell phones. These large purchases - up to 150 phones - have been happening around the country.
“The Lapeer Meijer had a similar situation recently,” said Page. “They are hitting these stores in the middle of the night because they are thinking the clerks are not as experienced.”
Authorities could not release the male subjects names, however, they are between the ages of 19-23. Two are brothers and the other is a cousin.
Page said the young men can speak English, Spanish and Arabic. One young man reported he was born in Texas. The other two said they were born in Jerusalem and Puerto Rico.
Authorities asked the men to stay in Caro to await further questioning until FBI agents could arrive on the scene. The men awaited questioning in their van, parked outside the Tuscola County Sheriff’s Department.
“They’re not going anywhere,” said Page. “We have their phones and I think they want them before they take off.”
Caro Wal-Mart officials did not return the Advertiser’s phone inquiries.
Amy Joles is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at joles@tcadvertiser.com.
No way if they were going to re-sell the phones they were going to do so without the batteries. No way.
Of course not, the dilithium crystals will activate the detonator, won't they?
Not to diminish how potentially serious these allegations are, do we really have staff writers who write "had went?" Is there an editor at that newspaper?
The best explaination that I heard was there were taking the ID chips out of the phones and sending them, mostly to Europe.
That what if you want and untraceable phone, you don't need to be carrying around 50 phones. Just use one phone and change the chip after every use.
“There’s a couple of reasons why you would do that,” said Page. “If you are using them as a bomb detonator, you don’t really need a battery in there, do you? And secondly, batteries can be used in methamphetamine production.”
No way were they to be re-sold.
And the men were Palestinian. I don't know just how stupid the authorities think we are, but it's insulting that we're supposed to believe these phones without batteries and their photographs of the bridge are just innocent happenstance.
So now they're making boms with Caro syrup in Caro, Egyp?
FNC just now: Men had removed chargers AND batteries and the men say they were going to re-sell the phones.
Riight. That will work with the uninformed masses.
"Is there an editor at that newspaper?"
Yes there is. And I writed her and axed her to do's some more proofs reading. I was series to.
Want to bet the ACLU will be all over this? These poor Arab men were only trying to raise money for school! And these awful white-bread types in rural Michigan made all this trouble for them.
Must be a civil suit here somewhere.
"Wal-Mart has a policy of allowing only three disposable phones to be purchased per customer."
Some policy - These guys were also picked up in N.Dakota, S.Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin doing the same thing. So, what about the Wal-mart employee who got them the 80 phones in Caro???? Was he/she bribed? Same goes for the two jihadists from Dearborn arrested in Ohio buying up cell phones. Why does the FBI keep letting these bums go?
Absolutely. In addition, if they really wanted to go into the cell phone business, they could have made suitable arrangements to buy them in bulk, wholesale.
The only reason they would go to 50 different Wal-Marts and pay in cash is that they wanted the transactions to be untraceable.
And there is only one reason why they would want that.
So we're supposed to believe that there are 1000 people in Texas who don't know that they can buy the phones, with charger and a $40 airtime card in their local Walmart or Dolllar General for $20? Where they would have the right to a replacement or refund if there is a problem.
I believe the correct legal term here is "a likely story."
Likely story, indeed.
If the phones were destined for terrorist communication networks, or for IEDs for use over the next month, they would have been purchased months or even years ago.
That means someone is stockpiling these phones.
Stockpiling implies a belief that you will not be able to purchase these items in the future.
The terrorists know something we don't, something significant.
You make too many assumptions. Perhaps the lack of sleep from the circling black helecopters.
It would take you less than an hour to make a phone into a detonator, particularly if someone told you how to do it. I never have, but I guarantee I could McGyver one in an hour, with a couple of common items purchasable with no scrutiny.
If the plan was "Let's blow people up in 2 weeks", that gives you plenty of time for one or two bombmakers to make the bombs while the others scout and to intel.
That there's what you call good writing in Caro.
Shalom.
And what school was that?
It was Ali's Demolition and Explosives School, your honor. Perfectly innocent.
Shalom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.