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.
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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
It is entirely possible that these fellows were sent an anthrax letter to knock them out of business inasmuch as the one cyanide attack they'd already tried failed.
You are right about the name. The address was different, 865 Lower Ferry Rd, Trenton NJ. Pakistani linked to anthrax mailbox. The discussion starts with #71.
Not that I know of; but I always start with checking "self search" for stories people have sent me, so I haven't started looking yet.
Best place to check for anthrax stories that don't show up on the front page is *Anthrax_Scare_List.
By puting *Anthrax_Scare_List into the "reply to" box on threads relating to anthrax, we're trying to keep these stories cataloged so can all keep up when we get a chance :)
Cheers.
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