he FBI has detained three Trenton-area men — one of whom was seen carrying a plastic bag holding several letters — and has searched two apartments in its probe of anthrax attacks, authorities said yesterday.Posted on 11/04/2001 2:02:44 AM PST by sarcasm
he FBI has detained three Trenton-area men — one of whom was seen carrying a plastic bag holding several letters — and has searched two apartments in its probe of anthrax attacks, authorities said yesterday.
The apartments are near the post office thought to be the sole source of the nation's anthrax contamination.
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| Plastic gloves are a necessity for the modern postal worker. |
However, the FBI said it had found no direct link between the anthrax poisonings and the apartment raids, the latest of which took place Friday.
"At this point, we have no information that links the two searches," FBI spokeswoman Sandra Carroll said yesterday. "I can't be more specific or elaborate beyond that."
Neighbors said that one of the apartments had been under surveillance for several days. And one of the neighbors said he called police Monday to report a series of suspicious circumstances.
The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, told The Associated Press he saw one of the men now in federal custody carrying a "Ziploc bag" with the letters. He said the man was holding it away from his body and "placed it real slow" onto the passenger seat of his car.
The neighbor said FBI agents questioned him hours after he called Trenton police. He said the agents already knew the suspect's name and where he lived, and they asked questions about his routine.
Two of the men were detained Monday and the third was picked up Friday.
Carroll declined to detail Friday's search, except to say agents targeted the Trenton apartment. She had no details about the other apartment search.
"It was while we were conducting the anthrax investigation that we obtained this information," she said.
Not Charged
Carroll said there were other occupants at the apartment, but they were not detained. Some witnesses reported that four Middle Eastern men lived there. Neighbors said one was the brother of the man in detention.
"Until we know something more definitively, it would be premature to jump to any conclusions," Carroll said.
The man taken into custody Friday was not charged by the FBI, but he was turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
In Washington yesterday, a suspicious, handwritten envelope delivered to the Treasury Department was isolated for testing.
Michele Davis, a Treasury spokeswoman, said the letter was found by workers sorting through a three-week backlog of mail. The address was handwritten and the letter bore the same Trenton postmark as anthrax-tainted letters sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and the New York Post.
President Bush sought yesterday to calm a nation increasingly jittery about the anthrax outbreak, which he called a "second wave of terrorist attacks upon our country."
In his weekly radio address, the President praised the efforts of public officials to fight the disease, but he acknowledged the FBI still doesn't know who sent the deadly germs.
He warned people to be careful opening mail as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continued to hunt for clues in the death of a New York hospital worker.
"Our folks have pretty much been working around the clock," a CDC spokesman said.
Bush previously left updating the public on the anthrax outbreak mainly to cabinet members and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge.
Yesterday's radio address appeared to be a response to concerns about whether the administration was acting aggressively enough.
"We are working to protect people based on the best information available," the President said. "And as we deal with this new threat, we are learning new information every day."
Bush promised to "share the confirmed and credible information we have" with the public, but there was little of that available yesterday.
* * *
Frightening Trail of Attacks
President Bush called the anthrax attacks a "second wave of terrorism," but no new cases were identified yesterday.
Contracted Anthrax:
Precautions:
Original Publication Date: 11/4/01
Yup. I agree.
The neighbor said FBI agents questioned him hours after he called Trenton police. He said the agents already knew the suspect's name and where he lived, and they asked questions about his routine.
Good for the neighbor.
The FBI may have looked up the guy's name and address from the internet and didn't want to seem incompetent when they talked to the neighbor.
If it wasn't for this guy calling the police, these guys may have continued there dirty work. That's assuming it was an anthrax letter, but everything fits.
I believe there's quite a bit of disinfo being pushed these days.
That's fine by me.
Yes, especially if he's put it in a ziploc bag, holding it at arm's length, and carefully placing it on the seat of his car. Note how the FBI interviewed the witness who saw this BEFORE nabbing the suspect. If the neighbor was lying, I'm sure they'd figure that out in the interview. It must have been a creditable report, and the FBY followed up on evidence correctly. They then picked up the suspect. At that time they'd screen his vitals, and find out he was an illegal alien.
I am a letter carrier and I pick-up a lot of mail in ziplock bags, plastic wrap, and plastic newspaper bags when there is the threat of wet weather. I also see folks bring it wrapped in plastic to the P.O. during rainy days. What is suspicious is the fellows behavior, holding it away from his body, etc.
...At least two apartments have been searched, the latest Friday, and three people detained in neighborhoods near the Trenton-area post office that is the only known source for the anthrax contamination.The FBI maintains investigators have found no direct link between the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the anthrax poisonings and the apartment raids. But information that led agents there was developed during the massive search for who mailed the contaminated letters, authorities said.
Authorities would say little about the search or about a man taken into custody Friday. He was identified as Allah Rakha by his brother, Ilyas Chaudry.
Why the AP is sitting on the ziploc bag story? And why are they not pointing out links to the September 11 hijackers and Al Qaeda? In fact, the AP's middle paragraph seems to be an attempt to squelch the idea of a connection.
But the Trenton Times published an article on Halloween suggesting the FBI believes there's a link between the anthrax messengers and the Al Qaeda:
[FBI spokeswoman Sandra] Carroll said the individuals from the Greenwood Village Apartments were questioned in connection with ongoing investigative efforts.Asked whether she was referring to the World Trade Center attacks or the anthrax probe, she responded: "The two are not necessarily separate at this point."
- FBI seizes property at Hamilton [NJ] apartment [anthrax/hijackers link], 10/31/01
My guess: the AP wants to keep blaming the "right wing."
The FBI seems to think it's Al Qaeda too, at least according to Trenton Times article (link in post 38).
The known link between the 9/11 hijackers and these anthrax suspects is Mohammad Pervez, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Pakastani origin who shared an apartment in Jersey City with two suspected hijackers.
Pervez also shared an apartment in Trenton with some of the people questioned in these raids; and, he worked in both Trenton and Jersey City, selling newspapers in both train stations.
I do believe the two groups may be working together.
I got a few replies to that post reminding me of the WTC truck bomber who went back to Ryder to get his deposit back. I guess they can be that stupid.
That the USPS is spending millions to acquire the irradiation machines is gratifying, but will they also work on other contaminants like smallpox?
The FBI is more worried about public opinion than about nabbing the perpetrators.
All Clintonista need to be purged from govt.
So I can still carry my mail in a Ziploc bag as long as I carry the bag in the "approved manner". Wonder where I can get the instructions for carrying a Ziploc bag.
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