Move Along
Posted on 08/14/2006 12:16:12 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CARO, Mich. - The FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that the three Texas men arrested with about 1,000 cell phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist groups.
Authorities had increased patrols on Michigan's 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge after local prosecutors said investigators believed the men were targeting the span.
Local authorities didn't say what they believed the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, but Caro's police chief noted that cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators.
The FBI issued a news release Monday saying there is no imminent threat to the bridge linking Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.
The release also said the FBI had no information indicating that the men, Palestinian-Americans living in Texas, had any direct links to any known terrorist groups or to the alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic jetliners that was announced in London last week.
William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit field office, said authorities believe concern about the bridge was connected to images of the Mackinac Bridge found on a digital camera belonging to the men.
Kowalski said there was nothing illegal about buying cell phones in bulk, but that profits from that kind of activity can be suspicious.
Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, of Dallas, and Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, both of Mesquite, Texas, were stopped by police Friday outside a Wal-Mart store in Caro, about 80 miles north of Detroit after employees became suspicious when they purchased about 80 cell phones.
Local prosecutors charged them with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.
The men told a magistrate Saturday that they were buying the phones for resale.
Louai Othman's wife, Lina Odeh, told The Associated Press on Saturday that she thought her husband and relatives were targeted because of their Arab descent. She said the men's families come from Jerusalem.
Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene said Monday that representatives of his office and Caro police had met with Sunday with officials from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney's office. He said all the agencies were working together on the investigation.
Messages seeking further comment from Reene were not immediately returned.
If it is normal than I am sure the IRS is currently investigating their past tax records.
Without their chargers??
Misleading AP headline.
Having no information is not verification.
The value is in the SIM card. I'm sure lots of criminal types like to buy them in bulk.
This article was also posted earlier
Terrorists in Caro?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1683493/posts
Did the alleged perps intend one?
The IRS is not your friend.
Yeah, really.
I can't grasp how this makes any sense without the chargers. Could someone enlighten me?
Our lovely FBI.
The Muslim shooting the clerk at the El Al ticket counter was not terrorism.
The Muslim driving the SUV int the crowd at UNC was not terrorism.
The Muslim shooting Jewish women in Seattle was not terrorism.
The Muslims in the windowless rented van buying cellphones by the gross is not terrorism.
This is the kind of stuff that almost makes me agree with the left that Bush is an idiot, but in reality, he is just another nutless washington republican.
I really hate Fed speak.
Welcome to FR.
The battery current would be needed to use them as initiators, however if they were building initiators, they would remove the batteries for safety while they were modifying the phones.
Me thinks the FBI got cards they ain't showin'. Could be some psych ops going on here for secretive purposes.
Well...the FBI did crack the case of a 20 year old mob homicide in Chicago a few months ago. Give em some slack...
had no information, direct connection, and known terrorist groups. I'm well on my way to winning Weasel Word Bingo.
Welcome to FR and thanks for having the courage to BLAME/BASH BUSH, it is something seldom done here!!
There must have been a good reason why Wal-Mart had a policy of only allowing three to a customer . Whether they intended any harm or not , I think Wal-Marts policy is a good one and should be followed by other retailers , but awe that capitalist nature will prevail over common since everytime , I'll bet .
William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit field office, said authorities believe concern about the bridge was connected to images of the Mackinac Bridge found on a digital camera belonging to the men.
What the hell does this mean. You ARE the authorities. Did they have pictures of the bridge or not?
Kowalski said there was nothing illegal about buying cell phones in bulk, but that profits from that kind of activity can be suspicious.
Another idiot statement. Mohamed Atta did nothing illegal until he crashed a plane into the WTC.
They paid in cash for 1000 cell phones. This may be their choice of payment, but why not use a debit card? That is alot of cash to be carrying around.
Why didn't they buy wholesale if they were so interested in making money?
Debit cards leave a record.
Give me a freaking break!!! They have 1000- cell phones that they DIS-assembled, where they took out the batteries, and we are supposed to believe it was all on the up-and-up??? I'm NOT a dumb Democrat and I'm not buying this crap from the FBI??
Hi Newbie.....hmmmm.
article is also now shown titled as
FBI: No terror link in Michigan cell phone case
Exactly, and like djsmith posted, they could have bought wholesale it would have saved them alot of gas money.
Does our government really think we are this naive? It's really very pathetic that we are being treated as if we are plain stupid.
AND EVEN MORE: I certainly hope they do not believe what they are telling us.
I've said it before. These turds sell untraceable cell phones to crack heads in poor neighborhoods. "What's that, Ajax? Your battery is dead? Well, buy a new one. It just so happens, we some available"...
They're on board the USS Ronald Reagan.
Mrthinks the FBI's report is a smokescreen. First to calm down mom and pop America, and second, to allow the bad guys to think that they're still okay with disposable phones.
". . . agree with the left that Bush is an idiot, but in reality, he is just another nutless washington republican."
Do you really believe Bush is responsible for what some FBI agents in Michigan investigating this case do?
How old are you? You may want to go over to DU and play with the other kids.
Yeah, sure Lt. Dreben. "Nothing here, move on folks."
The FBI at the drop of a hat, thought nothing of wrongly accusing the innocent Richard Jewell of being the Atlanta bomber and destroying his career and reputation. Yet, the FBI is quick to dismiss any hint of suspicion of terrorism planning by these three men. Why might that be?
sometimes, the parts sold by themselves is more expensive
than the whole package...
So a battery for a specific phone is 6-10 bucks?
The phone can be sold for $29 bucks without battery.
The charger for about$10 bucks, so they get $49.
What did they pay for the phones? It must have been cheap
to make Walmart limit the amount to 3 of them. I think big
stores do that to limit local discount operators from buying
the stock and selling it for profit...These are probably
loss leader items for Walmart...
It is possible that terrorists are wise shoppers also, and
know how to source good cheap detonators, and make a profit
on the side...these guys aren't out of woods yet. I'm just
glad we keep peeling the onion on these organizations,
and then we will reveal the true political, emotional,
psychological, and medically psychiatric reasons for their
endeavours.
Stick that in your handy dandy fedspeak translator and the answer comes back "we haven't got a clue." I'm series. We have no information - doesn't mean there isn't information to be had, just they they don't have it - to indicate - how decisive! - had any direct connection - the terrorist wasn't standing next to him - known terrorist - sure they called that number in Pakistan a jillion times but we don't know who was at the other end of the phone, maybe its his mother or something. I guess the feebs would be great coaches for the non-apology-apology too!
Now, if this case goes down as well as the one against the 20th 9/11 jacker, some judge will deny warrants to search these guys' cellphones and computers since they have no direct ties to known terrorists. What's the qualification to become a known terrorist, pop a nuke? /disgust
They don't want evey tom,dick or harry out there mucking up
the case. Maybe they want the associates of these guys
to think that no ties were found, so they relax, and go
back to normal operation mode,,and really they are then
being watched....
Strategery.
Actually, Tracfone sells the cellphones at below cost. As does every other carrier, they subsidize the phones to attarct the airtime. So buying wholesale would not be cheaper.
Didn't know if y'all saw this.
Sell the chargers to whomever.
Sell the cards to their intermediary.
Dismantle the batteries to cook a batch of meth, and sell the meth to finance more phone purchases.
That is looking on the bright side of things: druggie scum, rather than terrorists...but still scum.
Okay, lets say they were selling parts. They bought the phones as complete packages in bulk at full retail. They break them up into various parts, i.e., batteries, SIM cards, etc. Then, resell the parts at retail. There is only one thing missing here: profit. You cannot loose money on every sale or break even on every sale and make it up in volume.
Something isn't right here.......
How do you know my Brother-In-Law? ;^)
He said the same thing and did the same thing for a number of years.
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