Aug 11 2006
Hundreds Of Cell Phones Confiscated!
OK, we have more than a ‘trend’ going on here. I posted last week on two middle eastern men arrested in Ohio with 600 cell phones on them. Then came this story today from Michigan (I believe) where three more middle eastern men were arrested with 1000 cell phones in their possession. And now we have this story of another Middle Eastern man arrested in my family’s home town of Grafton WVA last week with 150-200 cell phones. That adds up to nearly 1800 cell phones.
If this is not a money laundering scheme then something truly serious is afoot. Here is the statement from the Grafton Police:
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.
I am going to see if I can get any more information, but the best source would have been my late uncle. So I am not sure what I can dig up. But what is worrying me is the possible uses for 1800 detonators. Are these for IEDs here in the US? You only need one or two for a large explosive device. But if you were going to do a swarm of smaller detonations across the country then you would need a lot of these. And it seems someone has been collecting a lot of these. Small charges distributed on highways, bridges, etc can have a huge impact in sufficient numbers. I can see no other reason for the numbers.
You can make a bit of money off of these – if you can clear $10 per phone that nets $18,000. But I am not convinced. Too much effort for too little money. And you have to understand Grafton to understand how crazy their story is. Grafton is well off the beaten path. The only reason to go there is because the Walmart is in an isolated spot away from prying eyes. My guess is these people have been cruising small town USA to keep under the radar. If they wanted the cell phones why not just bulk order them off the internet? Well, you wouldn’t do that if you wanted to hide the transactions. You would instead DRIVE from one small town to another buying them in smaller lots of maybe 20 or 30. Something is not right here.
Major Update: I missed this news from August 5 regarding those Ontario Terrorists nabbed a few weeks back:
The suspects are accused of plotting to attack several targets in southern Ontario.
They were caught buying three tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Police also found a pistol and an apparent cell phone detonator during the arrests.
Is this simple coincidence?
DGF,
Don’t call me ‘son’ – that got your comment vaporized and I did not read a single word beyond that point. You are a guest on my site, don’t forget that. No one has been bannedfrom here and you are the third or fourth person I have had to delete a comment from out of nearly 10,000 comments posted to date. Don’t become the first ever banned here. Your views are easily understood and not very persuasive. I really suggest you deal with that situation as best you can. Getting snarky doesn’t help your arguements one bit.
AJStrata
I remind you that cell phones were also the detonators in Spain and India.
The reason for selling the phones to make a profit is ridiculous. Why would the people buying the phones from these jokers not go to Walmat themselves and save the $18 if this whole thing is legitimate? When phones are bought on this scale, knowing how they have been used in the past, we cannot afford to give anyone the benefit of doubt. I think we are possibly going to see IED bombings here like those in Iraq.
I happen to personally know the officer who arrested the three men who were buying cell phones at Wal*Mart in Caro, Michigan. When he arrested them, the cell phones that they supposedly were going to re-sell were opened, stripped down and the chargers had been discarded. They had purchased nearly $25, 000 worth of phones in three states, all with CASH. They had a lot more cash confiscated from the car they were in. They had a camera in the car that had pictures of the Mackinac Bridge on it. NOT tourist pictures, pictures of the STRUCTURE of the bridge. They were arrested about 30 miles from the main highway (I-75) that goes straight up to the Mackinac Bridge Why is this important? If you are from Michigan you would know that every Labor Day, 50- 65,000 people from all over the U.S. gather on that bridge to walk the five miles across it. This includes our Governor, Jennifer Granholm. The date that this is to happen this year is September 4th. Exactly one week to the day from September 11. What is the importance of this bridge? It is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It also has the unique feature of having TWIN TOWERS that support the bridge. The waters that run under the bridge are extremely cold. It is an old saying that Lake Superior “never gives up her deadâ€. How easy it would be to set off a blast that would wipe out the entire surface of the bridge, killing or severely injuring every man, woman and child who was trapped, with no escape? What better commemoration for their great destruction of innocent Americans in 2001 than to kill 10 times as many people (and a Governor) in one spot between twin towers one week from the fifth anniversary??? Homeland Security isn’t taking this seriously, they don’t think these men have any links to terrorist. They don’t believe that men that have wives and children at home would be involved in this. How stupid can they be? Don’t they remember that no one thought it was suspicious when those men took commercial piloting classes to fly airplanes, but didn’t take the lessons to LAND the planes? Those men who hijacked the planes on 9/11 had wives and children at home. They are surpressing the information about the bridge and the Labor Day walk from the rest of the nation. They don’t want to cause a panic. I hope that the arrest of these men has put a halt to the possible death of many, many people. We will probably never know if they could have pulled it off, and I am thankful for that.
I happen to be related to the officer who arrested the three men who were buying cell phones at Wal*Mart in Caro, Michigan. When he arrested them, the cell phones that they supposedly were going to re-sell were opened, stripped down and the chargers had been discarded. They had a camera in the car that had pictures of the Mackinac Bridge on it. NOT tourist pictures, pictures of the STRUCTURE of the bridge. They were arrested about 30 miles from the main highway (I-75) that goes straight up to the Mackinac Bridge Why is this important? If you are from Michigan you would know that every Labor Day, 50- 65,000 people from all over the U.S. gather on that bridge to walk the five miles across it. This includes our Governor, Jennifer Granholm. The date that this is to happen this year is September 4th. Exactly one week to the day from September 11. What is the importance of this bridge? It is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere. It also has the unique feature of having TWIN TOWERS that support the bridge. The waters that run under the bridge are extremely cold. It is an old saying that Lake Superior “never gives up her deadâ€. How easy it would be to set off a blast that would wipe out the entire surface of the bridge, killing or severely injuring every man, woman and child who was trapped, with no escape? What better commemoration for their great destruction of innocent Americans in 2001 than to kill 10 times as many people (and a Governor) in one spot between twin towers one week from the fifth anniversary??? Homeland Security isn’t taking this seriously, they don’t think these men have any links to terrorist. They don’t believe that men that have wives and children at home would be involved in this. How stupid can they be? Don’t they remember that no one thought it was suspicious when those men took commercial piloting classes to fly airplanes, but didn’t take the lessons to LAND the planes? Those men who hijacked the planes on 9/11 had wives and children at home. I hope that the arrest of these men has put a halt to the possible death of many, many people.
“Texas men will not be facing terrorism charges”
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/aug/17terror.htm
You do the math:
“But the Palestinian-American men now each face one count of conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods and carrying out an unlawful activity involving a financial transaction. They could each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.”
“Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene initially relied on those images for charges that the men were conducting surveillance on a vulnerable target — a 20-year felony offense.”
Put them away for 25 years or put them away for 20 years? As long as they are in prison, who cares what charges they face?
I know what I know, not the distorted “facts” that the press are reporting. You believe the press if you want.
The bridge is safe and that is all that matters in the long run.