I-70 Traffic Stop Turns Up $300K In Cash, Undocumented Jordanian (Al Qaida Operative?)

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 2/22/02 | MICHAEL VIGH

[HiJinx]

Nothing to see here folks, the Olympics are safe, move along. There's a nice sheeple, that's right, move along now.

[Asclepius]

... and they are scoring the extraordinary catch as a routine drug bust ...

Well, duh. This way the police can confiscate the cash under existing civil forfeiture laws. And without due process.

[Henchman]

Routine traffic stop? NAW, they had to be following him waitng for an infraction in oorder to pull him over. They knew in advance but needed to be on the right side of the ACLU

REF: The traffic stop seemed routine. Ogden said deputies Bryant Johnson and Todd Gardner pulled over an eastbound car that had crossed over the center line on Interstate 70 near Richfield

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

I-70 Traffic Stop

[Henchman]

There is due process - you just don't like it. Every one of these yo-yo's comes up with a lawyer to fight the seizure. Let's see, drugs, large amount of cash etc - I guess I'll illegally immigrate to Jordan and leave with a Million $ HA HA HA! Congress passes the lawyer's full employment bill every chance they get.

[Capt.YankeeMike]

smells funny in a lot of ways...crossing over a center line is not unusual on I-70, its an interstate, duh...but 300K is a lot of cash for any drug dealer, i bet he had the capital for SOME kind of terrorist activities, then the idiot lets them search, but of course the cops search anyway whether you tell them they can or not, then just lie when it goes to court. At any rate, I bet this guy was up to no good....

[Blood of Tyrants]

If they can't link it to drugs, they can't keep it. Too often that "link" is nothing more than "suspicious activity".

[RaceBannon]

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY LINKS TO ARTICLES OF ARABS TAKING PICTURES OF DAMS, BLDS, CHEMICAL PLANTS, ETC?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Turned out he was just an Enron executive.

[marktwain]

I believe that with the "patriot bill", the link can be to terrorism just by saying so. This makes legal theft oh so easy...

But to me, it looks like a set up too. Crossing over the center line???? Come on. I wonder what they would of done if the guy had refused consent? I bet they would have searched anyway. I can think of at least three ways they could do it legaly.

[Mr. Lucky]

Doesn't anyone here live on Planet Earth?

Three illegal aliens in a car with $300,000; the driver claims he's a mule for some towel headed baddies and you guys are mad at the Sheriff?

I personally would feel a lot more comfortable with a couple more Sevier County, Utah, Deputy Sheriffs involved in anti-terrorist work and a couple fewer of the silk stocking crowd at the FBI.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

The man, an undocumented immigrant...

Don't they mean ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT?

One must sift the pc-speak.

[Mr. Lucky]

Son, that's an awful lot of baggage to be hanging onto one traffic stop.

[Shermy]

"But federal authorities say they will be the judge -- and they are scoring the extraordinary catch as a routine drug bust."

But...

"During questioning, the driver claimed the suitcase belonged to his brother, whom he claimed has ties to a terrorist organization in Jordan. Deputies contacted the FBI and the three were taken to Salt Lake City and jailed. "

"Deputies contacted the police department in La Grange, a Chicago suburb, and found that in a police report taken last year, the wife of the driver's brother had claimed her husband may have had some involvement in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. "

"La Grange police checked the couple's computer and discovered the husband had been looking for information on terrorism before the attacks."

__________

Ahem, is this part of a federal policy to allay and cover up fearful incidents before they announce a general illegal alien amnesty?

[GuillermoX]

You're saying the Olympics aren't safe?

This "nothing to see here, move along" phrase is so beat. It doesn't even apply to this story. Sheesh.

[Shermy]

The Richfield Reaper newspaper

Sevier County Sheriff's deputies Bryant Johnson, left, and Todd Gardner arrested a man who was transporting nearly $300,000 from Los Angeles to Chicago Saturday. The man, Hisham Saleh Hammad, 21, is suspected of having links to terrorists through his brother, Tereq Hammad.

Man with suspected terrorist ties busted

“After a routine traffic stop Saturday, Sevier County Sheriff's deputies arrested a man who is suspected of having ties with and transporting money for terrorist networks.

Deputies Bryant Johnson and Todd Gardner pulled a vehicle over about 6 p.m. for a traffic violation. When they spoke to the driver of the car, deputy Johnson noticed a strong perfume or car freshener smell, according to Sevier County Sheriff Phil Barney.

Johnson and Gardner proceeded to question the driver, Hisham Saleh Hammad, 21, who said he didn't have anything illegal in the car and invited officers to search his vehicle. When the officers opened the trunk they smelled the odor of marijuana. At this point Hammad told the officers to stop the search, which they did, according to Barney.

"It's a time consuming thing to get a search warrant, but it's the right thing to do and they did," said Barney.

After a drug sniffing dog, owned by deputy Kelvin Williams, hit on the trunk of the car, a search warrant was obtained and the search continued. Inside the trunk of the car the officers found a bag of marijuana and a suitcase which contained nearly $300,000.

Initially, the subject refused to talk to officers, but then requested to talk to Sheriff Barney.

"I reminded him he had the right to remain silent and he told me he wanted to talk," said Barney. [Yup. :) ] During the interview, Hammad claimed he was from Kuwait and that he didn't know anything about the money except that his brother had asked him to transport it from Los Angeles to Chicago.

Barney contacted personnel at the Joint Terrorism Task Force, who are in Salt Lake City for the Olympics, and they requested the sheriff's office to gather more information. As the search of the car continued, deputies found evidence of three different names. The sheriff's office sent the names and Hammad's fingerprints to Washington, D.C., for analysis.

Hisham Saleh Hammad was found to be from Jordan and his brother, Tereq Hammad, is on the list of suspected terrorists.

Tereq's spouse had been in contact with Chicago police in November. She told Chicago authorities that she hadn't seen her husband for quite some time and felt that he was involved with terrorist activity, according to Barney.

Hisham was transported to Salt Lake City where he was taken into custody by the FBI. "At this time he [Hisham] is cooperating with the FBI," said Barney.

Barney said he feels very strongly the money confiscated by the sheriff's office was intended to be used to finance terrorist activities. "A little inquisitiveness resulted in a tremendous success," said Barney.

"Our basic job is the safety of Sevier County," said Barney. "Money, drugs and bombs are all in a vehicle at some point and I-70 is a major route. I don't mind if my officers are on the freeway while they are not busy. I feel strongly that Sevier County is part of Utah and part of the United States of America and we need to do our part.

"These deputies were doing their part," said Barney

. Deputies also took two passengers who were in Hisham's car into custody, including Maria Anduaga, 20, and a 15-year old juvenile.

[spanky_mcfarland]

"The man, an undocumented immigrant..."

Whatever happened to the term "illegal alien"...it's SOOO much more appropriate.