[Pam]

This is some scary shit.

4 charged in JFK Airport terror plot
By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago

To view links in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. Your post count is 0 momentarily.

NEW YORK - Three people were arrested and another was being sought Saturday for allegedly plotting to blow up a fuel line that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport and runs through residential neighborhoods, authorities said.

The plot never got past the planning stages. It posed no threat to air safety or the public, the FBI said Saturday.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf called it "one of the most chilling plots imaginable."

"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable," she said.

Authorities arrested Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen native to Guyana and former JFK employee. He was in custody in Brooklyn and was expected to be arraigned Saturday afternoon.

Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, are in custody in Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur of Guyana, was still being sought.

All four have been charged with conspiring to attack the airport, one of the nation's busiest, by blowing up major fuel supply tanks and the pipeline, according to the indictment.

The pipeline takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Kadir, a Muslim and former member of Parliament in Guyana, was arrested in Trinidad for attempting to secure money for "terrorist operations," according to a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Kadir left his position in Parliament last year. Muslims make up about 9 percent of the former Dutch and British colony's 770,000 population, mostly from the Sunni sect.

An official said the plotters had conducted surveillance on giant jet fuel tanks at JFK and the pipeline. They had taken surveillance video of the targets and took it to Trinidad to review the tape, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrests were not yet announced.

The official said investigators first found out about the plot in January 2006. After that, an informant infiltrated the group.

"This was the ultimate hand-and-glove operation between NYPD and FBI," said U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island.

The arrests mark the latest in a series of alleged homegrown terrorism plots targeting high-profile American landmarks.

A year ago, seven men were arrested in what officials called the early stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and destroy FBI offices and other buildings.

A month later, authorities broke up a plot to bomb underwater New York City train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan.

And six people were arrested a month ago in an alleged plot to unleash a bloody rampage on Fort Dix in New Jersey.

___

[WhiteShoeWillis]

these scumbags should be severely tortured on public TV to make an example for anyone considering doing anything like this. chop their balls off and soak there bloody sacks in acid while powersanding there faces and spraying liquid nitrogen into there eyes.

[brothermoose]

Haha,

Americans:1,233,203
Terrorists: 1

[WhiteShoeWillis]

Originally Posted by NJJets

Haha,

Americans:1,233,203
Terrorists: 1

huh??? (filler)

[brothermoose]

We win again...its just good to see the US break up these plots time and again...we kick ass. It really is scary because these f*king terrorists will try anything to piss us off and our gov is doing such a good job foiling even the smallest of plans. Makes me proud.

[WhiteShoeWillis]

holy flag batman - these stories always enrage me. I would love the opportunity to spend 30 minutes alone with these scumbags.

[Cman55]

Cue up the Firing Squad with all shooters using hot loads!!!

[Barry the Baptist]

From what I have seen on TV this plot is virtually impossible to carry out. Who knows? I don't really believe everything I see on TV though.

[typeOnegative13NY]

Gotta keep the public believing our Middle east presence is the right thing to be doing. Sorry,i don't believe everything i hear and read. I really think that if these "terrorists" were so hell bent on getting something done,it would have been happening non stop. It's not like anyone is watching. We have 12 million undocumented illegal Aliens running around and i'm supposed to believe the someone is paying close attention to whats going on here?

[Jtuds]

Originally Posted by WhiteShoeWillie

these scumbags should be severely tortured on public TV to make an example for anyone considering doing anything like this. chop their balls off and soak there bloody sacks in acid while powersanding there faces and spraying liquid nitrogen into there eyes.

And teach them how to use the word there!!!

The news makes these terrorists seem like doctor evil...all these big plans that are foiled at the last minute by authorities. I don't know what's really going on, but if these terrorists just want to kill people and don't care about their own well-being then why aren't they going VA Tech style or hitting people with cars and shit...it doesn't make sense...

Honestly though, it's like these need these complex, movie-style schemes....kinda pathetic really

[Jetzz]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative13NY

Gotta keep the public believing our Middle east presence is the right thing to be doing. Sorry,i don't believe everything i hear and read. I really think that if these "terrorists" were so hell bent on getting something done,it would have been happening non stop. It's not like anyone is watching. We have 12 million undocumented illegal Aliens running around and i'm supposed to believe the someone is paying close attention to whats going on here?

An interesting point to make. How f'n hard is it for 5-8 guys to keep their mouths shut and carry out a terrorist act? It cannot be that hard to be covert enough to plan and carry out. Meanwhile the same govt that brought us duct tape and plastic as a remedy to biological attacks at home is nabbing terrorists who are forming naughty thoughts of mayhem. I don't really believe wholesale in these sort of conspiracy ideas, but you have to stop and wonder about it at least a little. Either terrorist of major meatheads, or the govt does a great job of fooling us into thinking they are buffoons.

[JoeJet]

Originally Posted by RichMiano

From what I have seen on TV this plot is virtually impossible to carry out. Who knows? I don't really believe everything I see on TV though.

This probably would have been the popular theme if we captured the hi-jackers before 9/11.

[typeOnegative13NY]

Originally Posted by Jetzz

An interesting point to make. How f'n hard is it for 5-8 guys to keep their mouths shut and carry out a terrorist act? It cannot be that hard to be covert enough to plan and carry out. Meanwhile the same govt that brought us duct tape and plastic as a remedy to biological attacks at home is nabbing terrorists who are forming naughty thoughts of mayhem. I don't really believe wholesale in these sort of conspiracy ideas, but you have to stop and wonder about it at least a little. Either terrorist of major meatheads, or the govt does a great job of fooling us into thinking they are buffoons.

exactly. Unfortunately imo,were the ones our Gov thinks are the baffoons. If I were a terrorist and i were interested in doing harm to this country,you the know the damage i could cause with a weeks planning and some materials available retail? And i'm inexperienced. They want to cause damage to our economy,all ya gotta do is scare the shopper. It certainly wouldn't take some huge "plot".

[WhiteShoeWillis]

Originally Posted by Jtuds

And teach them how to use the word there!!!

lol - I've always had a mental block with that there word.

[AlioTheFool]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative13NY

exactly. Unfortunately imo,were the ones our Gov thinks are the baffoons. If I were a terrorist and i were interested in doing harm to this country,you the know the damage i could cause with a weeks planning and some materials available retail? And i'm inexperienced. They want to cause damage to our economy,all ya gotta do is scare the shopper. It certainly wouldn't take some huge "plot".

You know, I am about as anti-this-adminstration as anyone. However, this time, I have to disagree with you guys.

As much as I am against the wiretapping and bag searches on the trains, etc., it's obviously working.

As the article states, this investigation took a year and a half to complete. They were tipped off in 01/2006, and spent the time to infiltrate and capture these guys.

Keep in mind, the government allows these investigations to continue because we have due process. There has to be enough evidence gathered to assure that when we bring these scumbags to justice, it doesn't blow up in our democratic faces.

Can you imagine if these guys were brought in, say, in February 2006? The charges would never stick, and the government would look like fools. Plus, you'd still have these 4 terrorists running around, plotting massive destruction.

For anyone who thinks this scenario is too far-fetched, you may never have worked in an airport. I used to be out on the runway at JFK and LGA. Let me tell you, while this was pre-9/11, it would have been SIMPLE for someone to do something ridiculously destructive. Security, at least back then, was lax on the BEST days. (I admit, it's been more than 10 years since I was out there, but I can't imagine it's THAT stringent now that a terrorist who has never been in trouble with the law could do it.)

While I am never surprised at another Osama tape popping up when Election Day rolls around, this is something totally different IMO. There are real threats within our borders, and I honestly believe that our governmental agencies are doing the best they can to protect our lives at home, regardless of the actions taken by our leaders against people across the sea.

[Pam]

Informant plays key role in JFK plot By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer
38 minutes ago

To view links in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. Your post count is 0 momentarily.

NEW YORK - A convicted drug dealer who agreed to pose as a wannabe terrorist among a shadowy group now accused of plotting to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport secretly fed information to federal investigators in exchange for a lighter sentence.


His surveillance trips to the airport with the suspects, travels abroad to meet with supporters and assurances he wanted to die as a martyr in an attack on an underground jet fuel pipeline gave counterterrorism agents insight and evidence that experts say was otherwise unattainable.

And his help once again demonstrated the growing importance of informants in the war on terrorism, particularly as smaller radical groups become more aggressive.

"In most cases, you can't get from A to B without an informant," said Tom Corrigan, a former member of the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force. "Most times when an informant tells you what is going on, speculation becomes reality."

According to court papers and investigators, the informant began working for the government in 2004, after his second drug-trafficking conviction in New York, and he quickly proved to be a credible source.

He was sent to meet with the JFK plot's alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas in 2006 and was introduced by an unidentified third party. Defreitas quickly accepted the informant as legitimate, saying he was sure they knew each other through a Brooklyn mosque.

The informant was convincing. Defreitas, according to a federal complaint, believed the informant "had been sent by Allah to be the one" to pull off the bombing.

Four Muslim men are accused of plotting to use explosives to destroy a jet fuel pipeline that runs through populous residential neighborhoods to the airport, which they allegedly believed would kill thousands of people and trigger an economic catastrophe.

In an indictment, one of them is quoted as saying the bombing would "cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks."

Although the plotters put a great deal of time and travel into their plan, they never managed to obtain any explosives before authorities arrested Defreitas and foiled the JFK scheme. Experts said the plot could have resulted in damage and fires, but nothing on the scale that the defendants had envisioned.

The men accused in the JFK plot didn't turn to Middle Eastern extremists for support to target the airport. Instead, investigators say the informant and defendants Kareem Ibrahim and Defreitas visited a compound belonging to the Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Muslim group based in Trinidad off Venezuela's coast.

When Defreitas discussed his radical "brothers" with the informant, he made it clear they were not Arabs, but from Trinidad and Guyana.

The complaint also made clear how deeply the informant had infiltrated the small band of would-be terrorists. While Defreitas, a retired JFK airport cargo worker, made four reconnaissance missions to the airport with the informant, federal authorities recorded each one on audio and video.

Defreitas, 63, who immigrated to the U.S. more than 30 years ago from Guyana, was in custody Sunday pending a bail hearing, was arrested two days earlier in Brooklyn.

Ibrahim and another suspect, Abdul Kadir, were in custody in Trinidad awaiting extradition hearings. Officials identified Kadir as a former mayor of a Guyanese town and a member of the country's Parliament.

Authorities in Trinidad were still seeking a fourth suspect, Abdel Nur.

Authorities said the JFK case and last month's arrest of six men suspected of plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., illustrated the need for inside information.

"These have been two significant cases back-to-back where informants were used," Corrigan said. "These terrorists are in our own backyard. They may have to reach out to people they don't necessarily trust, but they need — for guns, explosives, whatever."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said they were examples of terrorism growing in the U.S.

"It's a movement. It's a philosophy. And they're motivated by the same hatred that motivates al-Qaida," Kelly said Sunday on CBS's "Face The Nation."

Last year, informants played a major role in two other terror cases. In June 2006, an informant posing as an al-Qaida operative helped bring down a plot to blow up the Sears Tower. Five of the seven men arrested in that alleged terrorist group were U.S. citizens.

In May 2006, an NYPD informant's testimony led to the conviction of a man plotting to blow up the busy Herald Square subway station in midtown Manhattan.

[MisterMoss]

Scary scary stuff.