Raids In Times Square Probe Yield 3 Arrests

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CENTEREACH, N.Y. (CBS) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1

Investigators raided a home in Centereach, NY in connection to the Times Square terror plot on May 13,2010.

Federal agents conducted Thursday morning raids in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey in connection with the failed Times Square car bomb, and arrested three people, including two who had a direct connection to the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, law enforcement officials said.

A top law enforcement official said two Pakistani men who have been taken into custody in the investigation provided money to the suspect. Investigators were not sure whether they were witting accomplices or simply moving funds as is common between Middle Easterners and Central Asians living in the U.S. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Law enforcement sources tells CBS News that investigators have determined that Shahzad used the "Hawala" system in the Times Square attempted attack, a system used by terrorists to conceal the movement of money by using couriers without raising red flags to law enforcement.

The sources said it is unclear whether Shahzad used the system to completely finance his attempted attack, including the purchase of the SUV he's accused of packing with explosive material or the purchase of his ticket to Dubai from John F. Kennedy Airport to escape authorities.

One of the aspects in confirming Shahzad's connection to the Pakistani Taliban is by determining his money trail and discovering who handled the money and who were the facilitators of the money exchange. CBS News sources said that analysis is leading investigators in the direction of the Pakistani Taliban. Investigators are continuing to drill down on the identities of those individuals with the help of Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement.

Experts say a common way the Hawala system is used is to have couriers come to the United States carrying less than $10,000 cash to remain under the amount that must be declared at customs. That courier usually gives it to another courier, who then gives it to the intended person.

Despite the arrests Thursday, there is "no known immediate threat to the public or any active plot against the United States," FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd says three people are in federal custody on alleged immigration violations.

Two of the men had a "direct connection" to Shahzad, said a top Massachusetts law enforcement official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said the two are believed to have provided money to Shahzad, but investigators weren't sure whether they were witting accomplices or simply moving funds, as is common between Middle Eastern and Central Asian nationals who live in the U.S.

"These people might be completely innocent and now know what they were providing money for, but it's clear there's a connection," the official said.

The men are from Pakistan, said another law enforcement official familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release details.

That official said one of the men had overstayed his visa. The government had already begun proceedings to remove the other man from the country; he was awaiting a ruling from an immigration court.

CBS 2 was on the scene of the raids at a home in Centereach, a quiet, tree-lined town in Suffolk County. Investigators arrived there around 6 a.m., but it wasn't clear who they had spoken to or what, if anything, was seized.

FBI officials also performed raids in Shirley on Long Island.

Special Agent J.J. Klaver of the FBI in Philadelphia said agents were in New Jersey as well, searching locations in Camden and Cherry Hill following up on leads that he declined to specify.

Security expert Bob Strang said the focal point of the raids was the money trail behind Shahzad's plot. Because he was unemployed and had no income for months, investigators are looking to find those who helped funnel money to the admitted plotter.

Shahzad, 30, is accused of trying to detonate a bomb-laden SUV in Times Square on May 1. The vehicle smoldered but didn't explode. Federal agents, tracing Shahzad through the SUV's previous owner, caught him two days later on a plane bound for the United Arab Emirates as it was departing New York's Kennedy Airport.

Shahzad has not yet appeared in court. Federal investigators say he has been cooperating and has told them he received weapons training in Pakistan.

A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said the two men taken into custody from a house in Massachusetts are from Pakistan.

The official said one of the men was taken into custody because he had overstayed his visa. The government had already begun proceedings to remove the other man from the country and he had been awaiting a ruling from an immigration court. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is not authorized to release details on the case and did not know whether authorities are considering criminal charges against the men.

Marcinkiewicz would not confirm any addresses, but police cordoned off a small house in Watertown, a suburb about 10 miles west of Boston where a neighbor reported seeing an FBI raid.

A Mobil gas station in Brookline, another Boston suburb, also was raided. The entrances and exits to the station were cordoned off by yellow tape, and FBI agents were going in and out of the building. Agents also searched a silver Honda in the parking lot, removing items from the vehicle and loading material into an SUV.

Elias Audy, 60, of Boston, is listed at the owner of the Mobil station. He was seen by reporters leaving the business afterward and had no comment.

Marcinkiewicz told CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston the raid was one of several being conducted in the northeast United States in the probe.

"The searches are a product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation subsequent to the Times Square bombing investigation," she said.

Barbara Lacerra told WBZ-TV she saw the raid unfold from her home nearby at about 5:45 a.m.

"(We) heard the FBI guy yell 'FBI don't blah, blah move!'"

Lacerra said several FBI agents with guns blocked off the road, went into the home and took out a young man in shackles and handcuffs. She noted that he was quiet and cooperative.

She said two people were taken into custody for "immigration violations" in the raids.

FBI agents and police are also at a Mobil gas station in Brookline, but authorities are not saying anything about what's going on at that location.

No other details are available.

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/fbi.terror.raids.2.1691801.html

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"(We) heard the FBI guy yell 'FBI don't blah, blah move!'"

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But these are just the type of individuals that Obama misguidedly and selfishly intends to include in his latest mass blanket amnesty plan of illegal aliens. The same types of perpetrators were amnestied and subsequently participated in the first attack on the World Trade Center and even became US citizens after being amnestied. Several of the perpetrators of the second and final attack on the World Trade Center were illegal aliens. Apparently cheap votes still trump public safety and the general best interests in the minds of party hacks running the government. It's not like we haven't been down this road to hell before. Why do the American people continue to put up with this #######? Are we too busy watching soap operas or in a daze to notice what is going on?