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A bit of an update here. Check those hypertext links in this article url.

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2006/08/012642print.html

August 11, 2006

Three Middle Eastern Men Found With 1000 Cell Phones

More cell phone jihad. As I noted about another case recently, cell phones contain a chip that can be extracted and used as a detonator. They're also an easy source of money and a means, if quickly discarded, of untraceable communications. From Michigan's WNEM, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:

Around 1:00am August 11th three men purchased cell phones from the Wal-Mart store on M-81 near the corner of M-24 in Caro. Wal-Mart places a limit on the number of cell phones that can be purchased at once, that number is three. The three men allegedly bought 80 by purchasing them three at time so that an alert wouldn't be triggered by the cash register. They also paid cash.
An alert clerk grew suspicious and called Tuscola County central dispatch. The Caro Police Department sent a unit and stopped the rented van on M-81 just east of Caro. The suspects were headed towards Bad Axe on M-81 where there is another Super Wal-Mart.

The three men were described as being of Pakistani descent but live in Texas. Police say the three, ages 19, 22, and 23 appear to be naturalized citizens. One man was driving while the other two were in the back opening the phone packages with box cutters throwing the phones in one box, batteries in another and the packaging and phone charger in another container. The suspects had 1000 other cell phones in the van. There was also a bag of receipts showing that someone was in Wisconsin the day before....

Posted at August 11, 2006 03:25 PM

Police say the three, ages 19, 22, and 23 appear to be naturalized citizens. One man was driving while the other two were in the back opening the phone packages with box cutters throwing the phones in one box, batteries in another and the packaging and phone charger in another container.

Could it be possible that they are just stripping these phones of their batteries and charger and unit to sell them separately so they could make a profit? I mean, what would you need 1000 phones for? 1000 IED's? You could do enough damage with 10 and attract far less attention. Besides, they would have to obtain enough explosives to construct at 1000 and that would attract even greater attention. I think these phones are being 'scavenged' for their parts for resale. I think it is logical to assume that someone could find enough parts in a $20 Tracfone to sell separately for profit. For all we know, these guys could be geniuses.

while the other two were in the back opening the phone packages with box cutters

Oh no, god forbid BOX-CUTTERS! This obvious 9-11 reference was mean to inflame and horrify.

I haven't seen this much scare-mongering since the year after 9-11.

People are really uptight right now. I am not saying that bad things won't happen, I just say if we let things like this scare us, THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON.

A few more details...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2303968
"3 Arrested on Terrorism Charges in Mich.
3 Men Arrested on Terrorism Charges in Michigan After Buying 80 Cell Phones"

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Police stopped the men's van about 1:30 a.m. and found nearly 1,000 phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, along with a laptop computer and a bag of receipts, Stevenson said.

The men told police they were buying the phones, which cost about $20 and come with a charger, taking them out of their packaging and selling them for about $38 without the charger.

The arrests in Caro, about 90 miles north of Detroit, come three days after two men were arrested in Marietta, Ohio, where police said they piqued suspicions when they acknowledged buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio.

Investigators found information about airline flights and airports in their car.

The men, Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, both 20 and from Dearborn, have been charged with two felonies money laundering in support of terrorism and soliciting or providing support for acts of terrorism and misdemeanor falsification. A preliminary hearing on the felony counts was set for Tuesday."