Two Broward men charged in plot to blow up local armory, utility plants

Miami Herald ^ | 5/17/2002 | Larry Lebowitz

[Catspaw]

Posted on Fri, May. 17, 2002

Two Broward men charged in plot to blow up local armory, utility plants
BY Two Broward men charged in plot to blow up local armory, utility plants
llebowitz@herald.com

Federal authorities Friday charged two Muslim men from Broward County with plotting an armed jihad that would have included the bombing of several South Florida electrical substations and a National Guard armory.

The purported leader, Imran Mandhai, 19, a student at Broward Community College, has been in U.S. Immigration and Natrualization Service detention since Feb. 13. Mandhai is a Pakistani national living with his parents in Hollywood.

His accomplice, Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, 23, who works at an American Express processing facility in Plantation, was arrested at his Hollywood home without incident this morning by FBI agents.

Jokhan is a naturalized American who was raised in Trinidad and Tobago, which has one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in the Caribbean.

The indictment unsealed this morning alleges Mandhai was seeking funding to acquire AK-47 rifles, night-vision equipment, stun guns, pepper spray, smoke grenades and train for an armed organized ''jihad'' against the United States.

The goverment says Mandhai and Jokhan plotted to bomb Florida Power electric substations in Miami Shores and near Miami International Airport and a National Guard Armory in Hollywood as a precursor to a list of demands they intended to place on the U.S. and other governments around the world.

Mandhai and Jokhan both attended a Broward mosque but the ''jihad'' did not appear to be connected in any way to Osama bin Laden or the al-Quaeda operatives who perpetrated the suicide hijacking missions of Sept. 11.

[varon]

If terrorist/homicide bombings start here I would bet my bottom dollar that you would see radical profiling of Middle Easterners by citizens.

With a bit of ethnic cleansing thrown in for good measure ;-)

[Hard Case]

Neither of the men arrested is from the Middle East.

I realize this but the people will start somewhere. It's hard to look at all ethic backgrounds and discern their religous beliefs but if they are from the ME the odds are better than not that they are Muslim. If any Muslims (ME or not) try an pull some shenanigans on this soil again I fear we will see severe backlash towards ME's. Especailly if it includes a bomb vest, shopping mall, women and children. I am still aghast at how tolerant the Israeli citizens have been to this point. I mean could you imagine what you would want to do if your wife, daughter or both was blown to bits by some psycho because his god is better than yours? I would make it my single purpose to ensure they all got their 72 virgins.

[Hard Case]

Pass go.

What? No $200?

[blam]

"As to the muslims....I have a real problem telling the good from the bad so the good had better get a handle on the bad fast before they committ such atriocities against America again...... because they won't like my version of fixing the problem at all......"

Ditto. Well said.

[TheDon]

Agreed. Their Muslim faith is the common denominator in this case. Even if the title did not include the word, Muslim, at least it is mentioned in the first sentence.

[John H K]

Might that possibly involve crosshairs and turbans? Works for me!

I've never seen a Muslim in a turban in the US. They're pretty much all Sikhs. Of course, we've had several morons shoot or shoot at Sikhs because they're too stupid to know they're not Muslims.

[My Favorite Headache]

I grew up 10 mins from here...not shocking....South Florida needs a cleansing..

[Catspaw]

Good work -- this story broke a while ago, but it was very vague. Sounds like they have specific info and evidence now -- and we will soon hear the moans of "secret evidence" and "no proof," from the Islamists.

Blush...all I did was wander over to the miami.com website to see what's going to happen now that the artificial reef sunk a wee bit prematurely and turned turtle--and parts of it are now sticking out of the water--and this punched me in the face. First, all the hair on my arms stood up and second, I said, "HOLY SH!T!" and posted it ASAP.

I'm waiting for the Sami Al-Arian crowd to drive down from Tampa to hold a rally for these two. Sheesh.

[null and void]

Why did I think it was Møøse Limbs even before I clicked on the thread?...

[My Favorite Headache]

Shueyb Mossa Jokhan, 23, who works at an American Express processing facility in Plantation, >>>>

How convenient. All those account numbers. All that electronic money just waiting to be cut and pasted.

Do you know I was turned down 2nd year in college for a job at this very site?! This place is HUGE. Their staff their is gigantic. I will never forget watching 2 black kids I was in school with at the time land jobs there and I did not get it. The test was cake and I passed it but they put me on a waiting list aka...garbage.

[Catspaw]

According to MapQuest, Mandhai lived just a few miles away from Mohammed Atta's maildrop in Hollywood. Mossa lived less than a couple miles away from Shuckums Oyster Bar and Grill, where Atta and Al-Shehri spent a few hours on Sepember 7th.

Holy. Moly.

Good work, seamole. Now if I could only stop these little shudders....

[freeperfromnj]

posted it ASAP

Glad you did. In my opinion this is a really big story. Still haven't heard a word about it on the news. It shows that they are actively plotting future attacks.

[Chuckster]

Interesting all right. I checked the two states I have an interest in, Hawaii and Vermont; HI=0, VT=2.

Just for kicks, FL=50!

[My Favorite Headache]

I am actually shocked they did not take out the AMEX building itself. That would have been a HUGE SCORE. As for any concerns there about account numbers, let me assure you unless they had security clearance through their loss prevention or AMEX Police team (which they have their own law enforcement there) a code comes up and flashes right away if they are looking into any famous person's account, or looking up a non-callers account. They then are charged with a crime and dismissed immediately. The size of this complex and the parking garage would have been something to blow up.

That would have had a major hit on people's financial worlds as well because if I am not mistaken it is their main HQ.

[cake_crumb]

Great news. Looks like there are a few terrorist attacks being thwarted, after all. Thanks heaven Jeb's at the wheel in Florida, and his brother is in the driver's seat of the US.

I'm surprised it was reported at all. We probably won't be reading any followups any time soon. As usual, it'll be up to US to continue reminding the Acne-boy naysayers about yet another incident where the GOOD GUYS got the jump on the terrorists.

BUMP

[reillyoburbank]

Round em up! Get em out! Period, end of story, end of post.

[SBeck]

I'm about to cause a lot of dander to be raised, but here goes. Does anyone here drive an SUV or other low mileage vehicle? Yes? Well, which ME country profits from those frequent trips to the pump? Think a message could be sent to the Sand Fleas if their revenue suddenly took a dive as a result of a decrease in demand? Remember, 15 Sand Flea nationals were part of 911.

(For the record, I drive a Subaru Outback and a Dodge Caravan so I can be accused of the same right now).

[Catspaw]

Glad you did. In my opinion this is a really big story. Still haven't heard a word about it on the news. It shows that they are actively plotting future attacks.

We may not hear much about the story nationally--after all, this story says they didn't have connections to al Qaeda (even though some stupid drugged out punk who set mailbombs in the Midwest got all but wall-to-wall coverage for days). BUT they were certainly inspired by *something* or *somebody* weren't they? And I just wonder who or what that was. Did they get the inspiration at their mosque? From al Jazeera? Newspapers & tapes?

This story deserves a big follow-up with lots of digging.

[usadave]

Jokhan is a naturalized American who was raised in Trinidad and Tobago, which has one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in the Caribbean.

So what Jokhan was planning to do could be categorized as a traitorous act on his part, which could make him
eligible for the death penalty if found guilty.

[MarineDad]

I've never seen a Muslim in a turban in the US. They're pretty much all Sikhs. Of course, we've had several morons shoot or shoot at Sikhs because they're too stupid to know they're not Muslims.

Yes, you're absolutely right; I, too, have not seen Muslims sporting full turbans over here. The posting was meant to convey a figurative allusion (conjuring up images of Taliban thugs, etc.). And although I do not have any direct experience with Sikhs or Sikkhim, my former supervisor, who was Indian, spoke very highly of them, and even indicated that they are generally very conservative and usually support Republicans in elections. Those folks must NEVER be targeted along with Muslims because of ignorance or confusion!