Posted on 07/31/2002 11:11:13 AM PDT by kattracks
PATERSON, N.J., Jul 31, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A man who authorities said sold fake identification to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently left on a flight to Egypt hours before authorities raided his home and businesses Wednesday, officials said.
Mohamad El Atriss operated businesses in Paterson and Elizabeth where he sold the IDs, said Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale. Authorities raided his home and business Wednesday afternoon and were told Atriss had took a flight from Newark to Egypt earlier that morning, Speziale said.
Atriss sold a fake identification card to Khalid Almihdhar, who was on Flight 77 as it hit the Pentagon, and one to hijacker Abdul Aziz Alomari from Flight 11, which hit the World Trade Center, Speziale said.
Authorities said they had 75 fake IDs that Atriss generated and sold for as much as $800 each, though they believed he made many more. The IDs included international driver's licenses and New Jersey state ID cards, neither of which legally exist.
Wednesday's raids followed a four-month investigation by sheriffs in Passaic, Bergen and Essex counties, the Paterson police and the FBI, Speziale said.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Paper Trail, began after police in Bergen and Passaic counties starting finding similar fake ids, Speziale said.
Authorities were tipped to Atriss by a St. Paul, Minn., company after he contacted it about paying cash for a high-speed copier machine capable of embossing seals.
Atriss never bought the copier from Minnesota, but did contact a Paterson company about a similar purchase, Speziale said. That company also became suspicious when Atriss offered to pay cash for the machine and they called the FBI, Speziale said.
FBI agents posed as merchants at the store and sold Atriss the copier, Speziale said. Law enforcement authorities also purchased fake IDs at Atriss' stores, known as All Service Plus, Overseas Development and Trading Co. and Green Palm Investments.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
helloooooooooooooooo...
Why, fake id, of course!!!!
Of course - he was Arabic -- can't profile them, it's not politically correct!
(These are fighting words for the libetarians. Watch them post and blast within 2 minutes. Their definition of freedom is more important to them then life itself, even our life. Especially our children's lives.)
I remember a case a few years back involving a diplomat from the former Soviet republic of Georgia who was involved in a fatal drunk-driving accident in Washington, D.C. He fled the country under the protection of "diplomatic immunity," and the U.S. technically had no recourse in terms of prosecuting him.
I don't know what kind of pressure was put on the Georgian government, but eventually they not only sent him back for trial, but they also offered to send him back in 20 different FedEx packages.
Perhaps 'had taken' would be better? Sheesh! In addition to being flaming libs all, these freaking 'journalists' (using the term loosely) can't even grasp the fundamentals of good grammar.
Sounds like he had a good info source among the "authorities".
That would be Medal of Honor recipients. One recipient said, "If it had been a contest, I wouldn't have entered."
Told you so.
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