FBI Interested in Large Prepaid Cell Phone Purchases

[Ryan Ruck]

FBI Interested in Large Prepaid Cell Phone Purchases

Folks at the Dollar General in Grafton, West Virginia say in the past few days, several men have come into the store attempting to buy large numbers of prepaid phones. However, store policy only allows a customer to buy two phones at a time, in fact, they are locked away from the general public.

The clerks say after they were in the Dollar General, the men went to the Grafton Wal-Mart to try to purchase more of the phones.

Grafton police found one man during a traffic stop. They say he had hundreds of prepaid phones in his car.

There is no word on what the men planned to do with the phones or why they bought so many, but the incident was later turned over to the FBI for an investigation.

The owner of Country Roads Communications says the allure of the prepaid phones is the freedom that come with them. However, the FBI is not ready to say that the phones are being used for illegal or criminal purposes.

"Prepaids are hard to track, so they're used a lot for illegal operations," said Vince Cafazza.

"We are aware that there are a number of purchases throughout the state. Large purchases of trac phones. We are interested in the purchases because they are unusual," said Dan Caldwell, FBI special agent. "We also understand that a number of the larger stores in the area are aware of the purchases. We are not aware of any criminal activity associated with the purchases at this point."

Caldwell says if you notice someone trying to buy large quantities of these type of phones, you can contact your local police or the FBI.

[Malsua]

I want to get one for my wife.

I suspect these schmucks were likely going to sell them to Juan and Jose to avoid La Migra.

Of course, if they are moos, all bets are off.

-Mal

[Jag]

Ryan you have this coming out of Marietta, Ohio just across the West Virginia border......

Wednesday, August 09, 2006 — Time: 3:16:14 PM EST
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/...articleID=7645

Suspects linked to terror probe
By EVAN BEVINS, Staff Writer


MARIETTA — Two men arrested in the city Tuesday have ties to a suspect in an FBI investigation with links to terrorism, a Washington County deputy sheriff said.

Osma Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich., were arrested around 2 p.m. Tuesday on charges of obstructing official business after deputy sheriffs questioned their purchase of multiple cellular phones, said Maj. J. Winstanley of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The men purchased all nine pay-as-you-go cell phones in stock at the RadioShack in Lafayette Center, Sheriff Larry Mincks said.

“They both lied to law enforcement,” Winstanley said.

The suspects initially lied about why they were buying the phones, Winstanley said. Later, they said they were purchasing them for someone in Dearborn, he said.

A call to the FBI revealed the individual, whose name was not released, was the subject of an open case regarding the purchase and re-sale of cell phones overseas, Winstanley said.

The sheriff’s office had received notices from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning individuals might be buying cell phones whose minutes can be replenished by purchasing a card instead of having a regular account.

“It’s their belief that they send these TracFones overseas, and they use (the chips) against the troops, detonating bombs,” Winstanley said.

The men admitted to purchasing more than 600 phones in the area, Mincks said. They had been seen in Barlow, St. Clairsville and Woodsfield, Ohio, recently, he said.

Winstanley said the sheriff’s office was notified of the situation Tuesday by RadioShack employees. Workers said the men were acting suspicious, he said, and they did not give their real names when making the purchases.

Officers stopped the car after a minor traffic violation, Mincks said. A total of 12 cell phones and $11,000 in cash were found in the vehicle, officials said.

The men had a map marking Wal-Marts from Dearborn through this area and on to Charlotte, N.C., and South Carolina, Winstanley said.

Mincks said Dearborn has a large Lebanese population and has been the sight of pro-Hezballoh rallies recently. He said the department was not profiling, but admitted that because of the suspects’ descent the incident “caused a bit of a stir.”

Buying and possessing the phones was not illegal, Winstanley said; it was the suspects’ dishonesty with officers and the possible connection to a terrorist act that led to their arrests on the misdemeanor charges. He said both likely will be arraigned today.

A drug dog also indicated the presence of marijuana in the car, Winstanley said. One of the men indicated he had smoked marijuana during the drive to the area, but no drug-related charges have been filed, officials said.

Suspicious cell phone purchases have been reported in the area before, but Tuesday was the first time deputies have caught someone in the act, Winstanley said.

“They come and go pretty fast,” he said.

Parkersburg police Chief Gerald Board said his department also has received notifications from federal authorities to be on the lookout for suspicious cell phone purchases.

Board said there have been two incidents in recent months in which a large number of cell phones were bought at area stores. He said 45 phones were purchased from one store and 25 from another, but he declined to name the stores.

“We got names, which I can’t reveal, and passed the information on to federal authorities,” Board said.

Mincks said he does not want stores to stop selling the phones, but advised workers to watch for suspicious purchases and notify authorities.

This is getting real interesting right now with Dearborn, Mich. involved!
Jag

[Jag]

Posted on Thu, Aug. 10, 2006

Investigators: Pair with passenger info, phones linked to terror

Associated Press

MARIETTA, Ohio - Investigators in southeast Ohio said they were working to unravel how two Michigan men charged with supporting terrorism came to have airplane passenger lists and airport security information.

Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, were being held at the Washington County jail on $200,000 bond each, which could be raised at a Thursday afternoon court hearing. Each was charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism.

Deputies stopped the two on a traffic violation Tuesday and found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in their car, Sheriff Larry Mincks said.

It wasn't clear what significance the airline information might have. Assistant County Prosecutor Susan Vessels declined to comment on whether the manifests were for upcoming flights or those that already had flown. She also would not give the origin or destination of the flight or flights.

FBI spokesman Mike Brooks in Cincinnati said federal agents were in contact with Washington County authorities. He said at this point he knew of no connection between the case and the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes that British authorities say they have thwarted.

Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio, said sheriff's Maj. John Winstanley. They sold the phones to someone in Dearborn, Winstanley said.
Vessels declined to say how the phones, cash or flight information involved terrorism.

Investigators going through the car after the pair were pulled over in Marietta also found a map that showed locations of Wal-Mart stores from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee and into North and South Carolina, Vessels said.

"We got them at the beginning of their trip," she said.
Vessels did not say why the pair headed to southeast Ohio from Dearborn.

A message seeking comment was left Wednesday evening with Ray Smith, a public defender who represents Abulhassan. Houssaiky did not yet have an attorney, Vessels said.

Houssaiky's family members said he and Abulhassan work in the cell phone trade and were on a business trip, according to Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, who said he met with Houssaiky's relatives Wednesday.

"I hope this is a case where the government is not overreacting, overreaching and over-reading," Hamad said. "This is sensitive and serious. Nobody should rush to judgment."

At their brief court appearance Wednesday, the defendants did not address the terror charges. Abulhassan said he is a junior at the University of Michigan and Houssaiky said he is a student at Wayne State University.

The fourth-degree felony charges allege the two laundered between $5,000 and $25,000, Vessels said. A conviction carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The men were charged Tuesday with obstructing official business. Winstanley said they initially lied about why they bought the phones.

Those charges were dropped Wednesday when the money laundering charges were filed.
Marietta, with about 14,000 people, is about 90 miles southeast of Columbus and 12 miles northeast of Parkersburg, W.Va.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjourna...e/15237015.htm

Jag

[Jag]

http://www.wnem.com/Global/story.asp?S=5269589

Three Middle Eastern Men Found With 1000 Cell Phones

Aug 11, 2006 02:28 PM EDT


Written By Sam Licavoli II
Edited By Doug Moiles
(TV5) -- Around 1:00am August 11th three men purchased cell phones from the Wal-Mart store on M-81 near the corner of M-24 in Caro. Wal-Mart places a limit on the number of cell phones that can be purchased at once, that number is three. The three men allegedly bought 80 by purchasing them three at time so that an alert wouldn't be triggered by the cash register. They also paid cash.

An alert clerk grew suspicious and called Tuscola County central dispatch. The Caro Police Department sent a unit and stopped the rented van on M-81 just east of Caro. The suspects were headed towards Bad Axe on M-81 where there is another Super Wal-Mart.

The three men were described as being of Pakistani descent but live in Texas. Police say the three, ages 19, 22, and 23 appear to be naturalized citizens. One man was driving while the other two were in the back opening the phone packages with box cutters throwing the phones in one box, batteries in another and the packaging and phone charger in another container. The suspects had 1000 other cell phones in the van. There was also a bag of receipts showing that someone was in Wisconsin the day before.

The phones were Nokia Tracfones selling for $20 at Wal-Mart. For your twenty dollars you receive a phone charger and 40 minutes of airtime. The phones do not have to be registered with a name. Also discovered was a laptop with store addresses and store logos.

The men have been "cooperative, upfront, not hiding" anything according to police. They also told officers they get stopped frequently and say they buy the phones for $20 and sell them elsewhere for $38. They sell them without the packaging or charger.

The Caro Police Department, the FBI and the Homeland Security Terrorism Taskforce are involved in the case.
The Caro Police Department is holding the suspects property while awaiting arrival of the FBI. FBI wants to talk to the three men who are not in custody.

Pakistani descent who "live" in Texas but is in Mid-Michigan buying phones ???? This somehow counts as a big dot after yesterday's events.....

Jag

[Ryan Ruck]

Ohio Pair Said to Launder Money for Hezbollah

Two 20-year-old men arrested in Ohio were being held on Thursday on charges of money laundering on behalf of Hezbollah, authorities said.

The two men, Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, of Dearborn, Michigan, were apprehended on Tuesday in Marietta, Ohio, during a traffic stop and found carrying $11,000 in cash, 12 cell phones, airline passenger lists and information on airport security, a spokesman for the Washington County prosecutor's office said.

Authorities said the men admitted to buying hundreds of telephones and reselling them in Dearborn.

A map marking Wal-Mart stores from Ohio to South Carolina was also found in their sedan, a spokesman said.

Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit with a large Arab-American population, has been a locus of U.S. investigations into money-raising on behalf of Hezbollah and Hamas, both groups that are on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.

The two men's alleged tie to Hezbollah was not detailed by authorities. Each was being held on $200,000 bond and neither had yet entered a plea to the charge, which carries a sentence of up to 18 months in prison.

Initially, the two men were charged with obstructing official business because they lied to police, the spokesman said, but those charges were dropped.

They were stopped for a turn signal violation in the central Ohio city 90 miles southeast of Columbus.

[Backstop]

Jeez Louise!

How many freaking cell phone incidents have there been?!?!

[Ryan Ruck]

Add one more...

Local Links to Terrorist Arrests

The Washington County Sheriffs Department in Ohio has arrested two men for their involvement in what police say could be aiding terrorists, and one man linked to them could have been doing the same in Taylor County.

Last week, the Grafton police pulled over 24-year-old Hashem Sayed for a routine traffic stop. But what they found in his car was far from routine. Patrolman Daniel Laymon recalls the scene, "There were multiple cell phones, roughly 150 to 200 cell phones from multiple retailers," he said.

Buying that many pre-paid phones is not a crime, but the police say it is unusual.

Less than a week later, the authorities in Marietta, Ohio, arrested 20-year-old Osma Sabhi Abulhassan and 20-year-old Ali Houssaiky. Washington County Sheriffs deputies seized several pre-paid cell phones and thousands of dollars in cash. Because of the incidents, Grafton police believe the events are connected.

"The department feels that there are a lot of similar circumstances and there are a lot of similarities between the activity there and the activity experienced here," said Patrolman Laymon.

The activity seems to be more than just a coincidence. All three men are from Dearborn, Michigan and all three gave similar reasons for buying the phones. Sayed said he was buying them to ship to California to sell for a profit. But Washington County's sheriff says that may not be the whole truth. "They are digital for detonating car bombs and they have a particular digital frequency and that's what they're using them for," said Sheriff Larry Mincks.

Mincks says the men also had instructions on how to obtain private flights and airplane passenger information.

"It also had some information concerning airport security and check points."

He says the two men apprehended in Ohio are linked to another man who is being investigated for possible terrorism. Now, police across the state have a warning for residents.

"Not that it's a crime," said Grafton Police Chief, Robert Beltner. "But we can check into it to make sure nothing illegal is going to take place with those phones."

[Aplomb]

Graften Police are right to find this situation suspicious. Good grief, the families in Dearborn Michigan are not too bad off at all, nor do they need to drive around to different states to try to get more phones to resell them and make a profit. A shrewd disadvantaged poor person might have done something like that to net some decent bucks, but I do not believe it to be something that Muslim young people from Dearborn would be doing. And why lie at all? If you have to admit that you were trying to make some money, you'd be thought of as brilliant and not as a beggar.

[Jag]

http://www.mlive.com/sanews/latest/i...s/2006_08.html

August 12th, 2006

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Prosecutor: Mackinac Bridge was target JUSTIN ENGEL THE SAGINAW NEWS Tuscola County prosecutors filed terrorism-related charges Saturday against three men who they say bought dozens of cell phones Friday in Caro in a globally coordinated plot involving the Mackinac Bridge. They charged brothers Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, along with their cousin, Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, with identical counts of collecting material to support terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target with intent to committ terrorism. Prosecutor Mark E. Reene wouldn’t confirm what evidence led him to believe the Dallas, Texas, men targeted the bridge that connects Michigan’s peninsulas. Caro and state police arrested the trio when a graveyard shift Wal-Mart cashier became suspicious of their cash purchase of 80 cell phones. Authorities later discovered nearly a thousand pre-paid cell phones in their van. “All we did is buy the phones to sell and make money,” Louai Abdelhamied Othman told Tuscola District Court Magistrate Joseph A. Van Auken. Louai Abdelhamied Othman said this isn’t the first time authorities pulled over his crew — and this isn’t the first state it’s happened in either. “We’ve been checked by the FBI before,” he said. “They even gave us their card and everything.” Now we know.... Jag

[Jag]

Foreign man being held for feds

Monday, August 7, 2006

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib.../s_465047.html


A man from the Republic of Georgia is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on a federal detainer after he and another foreigner were found in Murrysville with 15 prepaid cell phones and $4,200 in cash, police said.
Malkhaz Zakutashvili, 53, was held through the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Murrysville police Sgt. Charles Tappe said.

The federal agency told police not to hold the second man, Zurabi Maisuradze, 25, who is also of the Republic of Georgia, Tappe said.
Zakutashvili told police he was in the country illegally, Tappe said. Maisuradze claimed to have a visa, but he said he had forgotten to bring it with him.

The two men were questioned just before 8 p.m. Saturday because their van, which did not have a permanent registration plate, was stopped in a lane of traffic in the Franklin Plaza parking lot, near an Eckerd drugstore, Tappe said.


The white van had only a temporary cardboard tag displayed in a window.

The men said they were immigrants, but each displayed Michigan drivers' licenses, Tappe said.

The prepaid cell phones, which the men had recently purchased in Monroeville and Murrysville, were found inside the van. Also in the van were a laptop computer and global-positioning software.

Tappe said a bomb-sniffing dog from the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office searched the van.

"It was a 2006 van, but it was all gutted out," Tappe said. "No seats or paneling on the walls. For all intents and purposes, it was the kind of vehicle that could be used for explosive devices."

The dog found nothing, Tappe said.
Most of the money, $3,400, belonged to Maisuradze and was found in an envelope in the van. The remaining $800 was in Zakutashvili's possession.
The men had visited the Eckerd store to purchase batteries, Tappe said. They told police they were en route to Philadelphia.

Tappe said the federal agent who investigated, Richard Nicoloff, did not ask Murrysville police to confiscate any of the items from the van.

"They didn't want the laptops or the cell phones," Tappe said. "That surprised me ... Just with the activities, and what they were doing, I'm surprised they let Zurabi go without questioning him."
Nicoloff did not return a phone call Sunday seeking comment.
The Republic of Georgia is a country in western Asia. It is bordered by Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Black Sea.

A week ago but still it fits.....
Jag

[Aplomb]

Once again we are all helped to understand things better by dhimmi reporters claiming discrimination and comparing apples to oranges:

http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/st...1200683259.asp

Racial profiling?

By Brad Bauer, bbauer@mariettatimes.com

Photos By MITCH CASEY The Marietta Times MITCH CASEY The Marietta Times Family members of the suspects react to testimony Thursday in Marietta Municipal Court.

Holding up newspaper clippings depicting their clients during their high school football days, defense attorneys of two Michigan men charged with aiding in terrorism called them “All-American kids” who were arrested because of a rush to judgment based on their names and race.

Prosecutors say they are confident the men are linked to a terrorist network and filed additional felony charges Thursday relating to the buying and selling of specific microchips found in only a few types of cell phones.

The two men were arrested in Marietta Tuesday.

Authorities say the phones are being modified by terrorists to make untraceable international calls and also in the production of roadside bombs.

Charged after purchasing several of the phones in Marietta earlier this week were Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich. The two appeared Thursday in Marietta Municipal Court for a bond and arraignment hearing.

“They are All-American kids that unfortunately in this day and age — since9/11 — have names that call them into question,” said Rolf Baumgartel, retained counsel for Houssaiky, a Wayne State University student studying to become an elementary school teacher.

The defendants’ appearance in court Thursday was via teleconference, broadcast from the Washington County Jail. Their parents and other family members from the Dearborn, Mich., area were in attendance for the hearing. They declined to be interviewed by reporters.

Authorities say Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted to buying more than 600 TracFones in the past month and reselling them to an individual in Dearborn, Mich.

Dearborn is a known location of several terrorist cells and most recently has been the site of rallies in support of the Islamic terrorist group, Hezbollah.

Baumgartel argued the defendants were selling the phones and chips to a legitimate business.

“They were being paid by check for the phones they purchased. This was not cash under the table or some hidden thing,” Baumgartel said. “These are college students. This is what college students do. They’re more willing to drive around to try to make money.”

Assistant Washington County Prosecutor Susan Vessels said Abulhassan and Houssaiky knew the phones were being used for illegal activity. She said the men were found in possession of a list detailing the specific types of phones to buy, based on the kind of microchips they use.

“Mr. Abulhassan made a statement to officers that he knew what they were doing was wrong and that he knew no one would ever use over 600 phones for legal purposes,” Vessels said. “(He also stated) he did not know for sure, but that he believed the phones and chips were being shipped overseas.”

Vessels also pointed to airport security and airline passenger information found in the pair’s vehicle.

Baumgartel said his client’s mother works for an airport near Dearborn and that the paperwork was part of a training seminar she attended. He said the men were traveling in her vehicle.

“It had been on the floor of the car for a few weeks, like stuff on the floor of everyone’s car — or at least in my family,” Baumgartel said. “Eventually you pick it up.”

Specifically, the men are each charged with third-degree felony soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism; fourth-degree felony money laundering in support of terrorism; and first-degree misdemeanor falsification.

Bond was continued at $200,000 for each man, despite the new charges being added. In addition, Marietta Municipal Court Judge Janet Dyar-Welch asked the defendants to surrender their passports.

The maximum possible penalty on the charges is 61/2 years in prison and $16,000 in fines.

A preliminary hearing is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday in Marietta Municipal Court.

At the hearing, the state is expected to present evidence and testimony as to how they believe the men are linked to terrorism.

Ray Smith, Abulhassan’s court-appointed public defender, said the defendants are natural born citizens with no link to terror. He said his client is a student at the University of Michigan at Dearborn.

“What concerns me is that if his name was Joe Smith and he went in to purchase three to six cell phones somewhere we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “But because of his appearance and name we’re going to say, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s a terrorist.’”

In Dearborn, Houssaiky’s cousin Diana Chamalia, 15, said she was shocked by the accusations.

“Hopefully he’ll be coming back today because he’s innocent. People are mostly saying it’s discrimination right now,” she said.

Abulhassan is a junior at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The school’s directory lists him as a political science major.

Houssaiky had been enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit as recently as May and was studying to be a physical therapist. He is not enrolled for the fall semester, university spokesman Tom Sakely said.

At Dearborn’s Fordson High School, the two friends were stars of the football team. Both were born in the United States to parents who immigrated from Lebanon, said Imad Hamad, midwest regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

In 2002, when Abulhassan was a sophomore, he told a Detroit Free Press columnist that he endured some teasing because he shares a first name with Osama bin Laden.

“He’s fighting for a cause like the United States is,” Abulhassan said of Bin Laden. “But he’s killing innocent people, and that makes him appear to be a bad guy.”

Hamad said he feared the men had fallen victim to what he called the “Dearborn syndrome” — when criminal charges are portrayed as terrorism-related because of the defendants’ Middle Eastern origin. Dearborn is the heart of southeastern Michigan’s large Arab community.

“I again caution for people not to rush to judgment for the sake of justice,” he said.

In recent years, Dearborn’s Arab community has been stung by cases in which authorities have accused people of terrorist connections on grounds that critics say were flimsy.

The Associated Press contributed.



The charges and possible penalties:

Soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism: Charges the defendants did raise, solicit, collect, donate or provide any material support or resources, with purpose that the material support or resources will be used in whole or in part to plan, prepare, carry out or aid in either an act of terrorism or the concealment of, or an escape from, an act of terrorism.

The charge is a third-degree felony.

Possible penalty: One to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Money laundering in support of terrorism: Charges the defendants did know that the property is the proceeds of an act of terrorism or a monetary instrument given, received, or intended to be used in support of an act of terrorism, shall conduct or attempt to conduct any transaction involving that property or transport, transmit, or transfer that monetary instrument with the intent to further the commission of criminal activity.

The charge is a fourth-degree felony.

Possible penalty: Six to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Falsification: Charges the defendants did knowingly make a false statement, or knowingly swear or affirm the truth of a false statement previously made, and the statement is made with the purpose to mislead a public official in performing an official function.

The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor.

Possible penalty: Up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine (jail time out of a misdemeanor charge must run concurrent with any sentence issued out of a felony conviction).

[New Guy]

well, this subject finally prompted me to register. i heard a lady on the radio today wondering why the bridge would be a target, and here is what she came up with:

http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,...2029--,00.html

She said roughly 60-70k people take part in the bridge walk. Dunno if that's the case but the pic on that page sure looks like it.

[Ryan Ruck]

New Guy and thanks for posting this.

It sounds like as likely a reason as any since I've heard that it would be fairly difficult to completely destroy the bridge (damage not necessarily but, destroy completely would be hard).

[Brian Baldwin]

“He’s fighting for a cause like the United States is,” Abulhassan said of Bin Laden. “But he’s killing innocent people, and that makes him appear to be a bad guy.”

That alone would be enough to be suspicious. Talk about digging one's own grave.

[Aplomb]

http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5275885

Tucson authorities looking for 2 Middle Eastern men


Law enforcement sources confirm to News 4 that Tucson Police have issued an "attempt to locate" on two Middle Eastern men in their 20's who purchased nearly 50 phones from Sam's Club and Wal-Mart in Tucson.

Sources say the men made the purchases on Saturday and Sunday.

There's been a number of arrests nationwide with very similar circumstances.

News 4 is not linking this case with the national cases, but we do want to point out how similar they are.

Arrests have been made in Michigan and Ohio and there are reports of large numbers of cell phones being sold to young men fitting the same description in Wisconsin.

There was a very similar case that went down in Antigo, Wisconsin where police say another group of men bought more than 90 cell phones from 4 different stores.

News 4 spoke with a Wal-mart and Sam's Club representative and he would not confirm nor deny that these men did in fact buy those phones.

Instead, he referred us to the police and we spoke with the Pima Sheriff's Department and the Marana and Oro Valley police departments.

Tucson law enforcement authorities confirmed late Sunday night that officers are searching for these two men.

...............

From http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

In March last year, LGF reader reaganite sent the following photo from Iraq, with this explanation:

The EOD team leader didn’t know it was an IED. He was just going to do a BIP (Blow in Place) of ordnance. He returned after the explosion to do a post blast investigation and discovered what is in the picture.

This is why these cell phone stories are in the news.

[American Patriot]

Feds back off cell phone terror charges

Authorities say no imminent threat to Mackinac Bridge


(www.cnn.com)


Tuesday, August 15, 2006; Posted: 9:42 a.m. EDT (13:42 GMT)
DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- Last winter, federal authorities warned local officials to be on the lookout for anyone buying large numbers of prepaid cell phones -- devices that could become potential tools for terrorists.

Authorities in Michigan and Ohio clearly listened: In the space of only a few days last week, they arrested five men and charged them with terrorism-related offenses.


But in the days since, the two cases have grown more complicated.
On Monday, an Ohio prosecutor said he was dropping the charges he brought against two Michigan men because he could not prove a terrorism link. And the FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that three Texas men arrested in Michigan had direct terror ties.


Prosecutors in Michigan, however, were standing by the charges against the three Palestinian-American men living in Texas, though they have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones.


Officials have said various illegal acts can be committed with prepaid cell phones, including using them as detonators, communicating among terrorists and using the batteries to make methamphetamine.


"I don't know how many of you have ever gone to a store to purchase 80-100 cell phones at a time," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday in Chicago. "I would consider that somewhat unusual and I think it would be perfectly legitimate to say, 'Hey, is there something going on here?"'


Supporters of the five men have said all along that their only purpose was to make money through a perfectly legitimate business and that they were targeted because of their Arab descent.


Tuscola County prosecutors have charged Maruan Awad Muhareb, 18, of Mesquite, Texas; Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 21, of Dallas; and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, 23, of Mesquite, with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.


The surveillance charge was connected to images of the Mackinac Bridge found on their digital camera, said William Kowalski, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit office. He said there was no imminent threat to the bridge.


Michigan State Police Director Col. Peter Munoz, who heads the state's homeland security efforts, said there was no indication the men were plotting to blow up the Mackinac Bridge "or target any other location in Michigan or elsewhere."


Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene, who charged the three men, would not comment on the status of the case. Representatives of his office and Caro police have consulted with officials from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney's office.


Nabih Ayad, a defense attorney representing the Texas men, said that based on Monday's statements by the FBI and Munoz, he planned to file an emergency motion Tuesday for his clients' release on bond.
He said the photos of the Mackinac Bridge were innocent tourist snapshots taken while the men were stuck in traffic. "That's what people do when you see a tourist attraction: They take pictures," he said.


Meanwhile, in Ohio, Washington County Prosecutor James Schneider said he did not have enough evidence to prove that Ali Houssaiky and Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, both of Dearborn, Mich., had any link to terrorism.


The two 20-year-olds still face a misdemeanor charge of falsification -- accused of lying about why they bought the phones. Felony charges of money laundering in support of terrorism and soliciting or providing support for acts of terrorism will be dropped, Schneider said.


Houssaiky and Abulhassan were arrested Aug. 8 in Marietta, Ohio, after they aroused suspicions by buying large numbers of prepaid cell phones, officials said.


The Texas men, Muhareb, Adham Othman and Louai Othman, were arrested Friday in Caro after purchasing 80 cell phones at a Wal-Mart, police said. Authorities said they found nearly 1,000 phones in their van.


Louai Othman's wife, Lina Odeh, has said the men were buying the phones to sell to a man in Dallas for a profit of about $5 per phone. She said they were in Michigan because so many people in the Dallas area are doing the same thing that the phones are often sold out.


The FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent out joint bulletins in February and March to police departments nationwide warning about the bulk purchase of phones for personal profit or financing terrorism.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Malsua]

Why would the feds back away from this? Either the phones are used to make private calls back to the AQ HQ or for Detonators. Some of the calls are back to family, surely, but some of it is planning for the Jihad, no doubt about that. Ah well, maybe they can trace these now(yeah, I know, wishful thinking)

[Ryan Ruck]

I postulated on a similar topic on ARFCOM that it was to see where or to who these individuals run to when released.

[samizdat]

Sounds to me as if the feds wimped out. Rico stat. Who cares if they're making phone calls to Mom, Osamma or a bomb. "No retail license" "No bail". Here, drop a dime and call PDS.

Nice pic aplomb. Reach out and touch.