Maybe there was more to the story. Got the fake ID and cash info from snopes.com
I suspect the FBI knows the
assumed identities of the Arabs, since they apparently managed to open a CostCo account for this very special purchase! Several thousands of them own grocery and liquor stores.
I am not questioning your veracity, I merely suspect that the available news is limited or perhaps even purposely misleading, so as to catch the evil-doers without driving them underground. Disinformation, I think it's called.