FBI: NYC Cabbie Sought to Buy Explosives

Fox Newz via AP ^ | 5/22/03 | Unknown

[Blood of Tyrants]

NEW YORK

[Blood of Tyrants]

According to the left, Biush isn't doing anything to combat terrorism here in the U.S.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Only 6 years in prison?!

[Principled]

friggin Muslims.

[CFW]

So, I guess the valium was so he would be nice and calm while handling the explosives?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Maybe if he was handling nitroglycerin.

[SJSAMPLE]

If a NYC cabbie wants to kill some Americans, the stench alone should do it.

[rintense]

Holy crap! Remember this post???

Thread here

---

To: CedarDave

My question is this: how hard would be for a Middle Eastern cab driver to turn his cab into a car bomb? I mean, when you think of the number of Arab cab drivers in NYC, DC, etc., wouldn't this be the perfect cover for them? Cabs go everywhere in major cities...

77 posted on 05/20/2003 2:59 PM EDT by rintense (Freedom is contagious. And everyone wants to catch it.)

[Conspiracy Guy]

Looks like we need to add cabs in with tanker trucks, rental trucks, bicycle, etc on the TSA/GPS tracking list. We need to put a police officer in or on every conveyance. Track all that deviate from their filed path.

Jeez we need to send all these people back home.

[FreeTheHostages]

So, I guess the valium was so he would be nice and calm while handling the explosives?

Let me help out here with some knowledge from my prosecutor days. Afghanistan is a major exporter of heroin (or its poppy precursor). Increasingly, many people in and from Afghanistan (as well as neighboring Pakistan) are getting addicted to heroin. When you use heroin, people sometimes combine its use with valium. Which is all very dangerous.

[CedarDave]

Calling Matt Lauer. Your cabbie friends miss you.

[CFW]

Which is all very dangerous.

Not to mention stupid!

[kcvl]

The investigation into Sayed Abdul Malike began in late March when a Queens store owner told police that the suspect was asking for information on how to make a bomb.

Malike later traveled to Miami, where he boarded a tourist ship for a sightseeing trip around the port. While videotaping the bridges they passed, he asked the captain of the ship "about the infrastructure of bridges ... and about how close the boat could get to the bridges and cruise ships," Renner recounted in a court deposition.

The captain reported Malike's behavior to the Coast Guard, and Malike was later interviewed by FBI agents in Miami. He claimed to be simply taking tourist pictures, but he left the video with the agents and was permitted to leave.

Upon his return to New York, Malike was directed by the store owner to an undercover agent posing as an illegal explosives supplier.

During a series of several meetings with the undercover agent, all of which the agent recorded, Malike also attempted to buy five bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, a camera for the front of his car, 50 sleeping pills and 100 Valium pills, in addition to a half-case of C-4 for $10,000.

The agent later sold Malike the Valium and placebo sleeping pills for $150, and Malike repeated his interest in purchasing the explosives but "he still didn't have a place to store it." Immediately after the purchase of the pills, FBI agents arrested Malike.

[kcvl]

When he was questioned, Malike denied discussing explosives with the shopkeeper or anyone else, and claimed he'd never been to Florida. But he admitted traveling to Pakistan, Italy, San Diego and Afghanistan.

One of Malike's neighbors on 9th Street in Long Island City said he reported Malike's odd behavior to cops soon after 9/11 and early this year.

"There was something wrong with this guy," said the neighbor, Victor Diaz, a 24-year Army veteran.

Diaz said police told him they didn't have enough manpower to respond to his reports. Last night, police couldn't verify that Diaz had gone to them.

Diaz and other neighbors said Malike had Muslim-looking visitors who in the middle of the night moved luggage from his apartment into vans.

A neighborhood teen said when he angered Malike by calling him "Saddam Hussein," the suspect chillingly replied: "My day is coming, no worries."

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/76393.htm

[nutmeg]

My question is this: how hard would be for a Middle Eastern cab driver to turn his cab into a car bomb? I mean, when you think of the number of Arab cab drivers in NYC, DC, etc., wouldn't this be the perfect cover for them? Cabs go everywhere in major cities...

Yikes...

[kcvl]

Mr. Malike, 43 years old and a native of Afghanistan, is charged with drug possession and making false statements, but his alleged interest in substances more dangerous than sedatives has piqued the government's curiosity.

Malike, who lives in Astoria, Queens, was granted asylum to live in the U.S. several years ago, after claiming he fled his homeland to escape the Taliban. His wife lives in Pakistan.

Activity at apartment

Neighbors complained he brought a string of women to his apartment and was always unloading computers and luggage. He recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, they said.

"I was joking and asked him if he was a terrorist, and he said, 'Yeah,' with a serious face," said neighbor David Lee, 16. "But I didn't believe him because he was a nice guy."

Ricky Garcia, 16, said he jokingly called the suspect Saddam Hussein one day. "He flipped out. He wanted to fight me, and he kept on saying, 'I'm not Saddam Hussein.' He was really angry and he said, 'Your day is coming soon.'"

Malike has been under surveillance since March, when he went to a computer store and asked for bomb-making instructions, authorities said.

The store owner contacted the FBI, which tailed him three days later when he took a train to Miami.

After Malike returned to New York on April 1, he went back to the computer store to ask about the bomb instructions again, authorities said.

The merchant agreed to introduce Malike to a go-between - in reality, an undercover FBI agent wearing a wire.

Agents rigged 16 packets to look like C-4 in a wood crate for the next meeting April 18. But the sale fell through when Malike said he didn't have the money, the FBI said.

At their final meeting Tuesday, Malike paid $150 for the pills and was arrested.

Three years ago, Malike sued the Port Authority, claiming his civil rights were violated by a cop at the 42nd St. bus terminal, a PA source said. He lost the case.


http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/85859p-78346c.html

[csvset]

Bridges & bombs bump

[rintense]

Exactly. Imagine 2-3 cabs pulling up in front of a major building in NYC, LA, etc... horrific results. You also see a lot of cabs in front of sporting events on the East Coast...

[Walkingfeather]

How bout 6 years in the same cell block with a bunch of vietnam vet hells angels.... now how long does that 6 years seem??

[nutmeg]

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.

[epluribus_2]

...don't tell me, Islam again?