Posted on 08/14/2006 12:16:12 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CARO, Mich. - The FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that the three Texas men arrested with about 1,000 cell phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist groups.
Authorities had increased patrols on Michigan's 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge after local prosecutors said investigators believed the men were targeting the span.
Local authorities didn't say what they believed the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, but Caro's police chief noted that cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators.
The FBI issued a news release Monday saying there is no imminent threat to the bridge linking Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.
The release also said the FBI had no information indicating that the men, Palestinian-Americans living in Texas, had any direct links to any known terrorist groups or to the alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic jetliners that was announced in London last week.
William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit field office, said authorities believe concern about the bridge was connected to images of the Mackinac Bridge found on a digital camera belonging to the men.
Kowalski said there was nothing illegal about buying cell phones in bulk, but that profits from that kind of activity can be suspicious.
Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, of Dallas, and Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, both of Mesquite, Texas, were stopped by police Friday outside a Wal-Mart store in Caro, about 80 miles north of Detroit after employees became suspicious when they purchased about 80 cell phones.
Local prosecutors charged them with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.
The men told a magistrate Saturday that they were buying the phones for resale.
Louai Othman's wife, Lina Odeh, told The Associated Press on Saturday that she thought her husband and relatives were targeted because of their Arab descent. She said the men's families come from Jerusalem.
Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene said Monday that representatives of his office and Caro police had met with Sunday with officials from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney's office. He said all the agencies were working together on the investigation.
Messages seeking further comment from Reene were not immediately returned.
Stick that in your handy dandy fedspeak translator and the answer comes back "we haven't got a clue." I'm series. We have no information - doesn't mean there isn't information to be had, just they they don't have it - to indicate - how decisive! - had any direct connection - the terrorist wasn't standing next to him - known terrorist - sure they called that number in Pakistan a jillion times but we don't know who was at the other end of the phone, maybe its his mother or something. I guess the feebs would be great coaches for the non-apology-apology too!
Now, if this case goes down as well as the one against the 20th 9/11 jacker, some judge will deny warrants to search these guys' cellphones and computers since they have no direct ties to known terrorists. What's the qualification to become a known terrorist, pop a nuke? /disgust
They don't want evey tom,dick or harry out there mucking up
the case. Maybe they want the associates of these guys
to think that no ties were found, so they relax, and go
back to normal operation mode,,and really they are then
being watched....
Strategery.
Actually, Tracfone sells the cellphones at below cost. As does every other carrier, they subsidize the phones to attarct the airtime. So buying wholesale would not be cheaper.
Didn't know if y'all saw this.
Sell the chargers to whomever.
Sell the cards to their intermediary.
Dismantle the batteries to cook a batch of meth, and sell the meth to finance more phone purchases.
That is looking on the bright side of things: druggie scum, rather than terrorists...but still scum.
Okay, lets say they were selling parts. They bought the phones as complete packages in bulk at full retail. They break them up into various parts, i.e., batteries, SIM cards, etc. Then, resell the parts at retail. There is only one thing missing here: profit. You cannot loose money on every sale or break even on every sale and make it up in volume.
Something isn't right here.......
How do you know my Brother-In-Law? ;^)
He said the same thing and did the same thing for a number of years.
Bush appointed Gonzales, bush sets the tone for "lets not scare anyone, and PLEASE don't make the muslims mad".
Not as bad as the dems, but bad enough to be sickening.
Does anyone actually believe this BULLSH*T?????
You have a point about appeasement and political correctness, no shortage of that from the Bush administration.
I think there is probably a lot that isn't being said by the FBI. And I don't believe for a minute that all these "coincidental" events, of muslims buying large numbers of phones, are not connected to terrorism attempts.
The Muslims are all whipped into a frenzy about the events in Lebanon (and hate us for supporting Israel), so I wouldn't be surprised at anything happening.We are in a war, as Bush has said, and it will be a long and difficult task, as he said.
Iran is fannning the flames, and I believe, wants to start a world war.
bttt
The person or entity that purchased them was, in addition, paying $5.00 per phone more than he could have bought them for at retail!
Federal Bureau of Incompetence.
Maybe we'll get our answer on August 22.
LOL - You're stretching it hard on this ...
What ... Do you think the FBI HAS information of them having INDIRECT contact with UNKNOWN terrorist groups ?
"They have 1000- cell phones that they DIS-assembled, where they took out the batteries, and we are supposed to believe it was all on the up-and-up???"
Not impossible ... For example, if you have a small company producing a product that needs a tiny hard-drive, it's cheaper to buy and crack open iPods then to buy a couple of thousand new drives from the manufacturer, IF he will even sell them in small quantities.
But my guess on this would be that someone has figured out how to set these phones up in a closed system, and is packaging them with transmitters for towns and villages in South America or the Pacific Islands.
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.