[ndt]

"The battery current would be needed to use them as initiators, however if they were building initiators"

So they were removing the chargers for nefarious reasons and they were removing the batteries for nefarious reasons even thought the FBI has now publicly stated that they have no evidence to connect them to anything nefarious? Could it possibly be that maybe they actually were selling them for parts?

I understand the need for vigilance, but I also understand the need for evidence.

[ApplegateRanch]

Could it possibly be that maybe they actually were selling them for parts?

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.

[Thermalseeker]

Could it possibly be that maybe they actually were selling them for parts?

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.......