British Spies Helped Uncover New York Terror Plot
November 10, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
The alleged terror plot was apparently unveiled after an email address that was being monitored at one time as part of Operation Pathway was suddenly reactivated.
The plan, which reportedly would have been the biggest attack on America since 9/11, was uncovered after Scotland Yard intercepted an email. The force alerted the FBI, who launched an operation which led to airport shuttle bus driver Najibullah Zazi, 24, being charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The Afghan is alleged to have been part of a group who used stolen credit cards to buy components for bombs including nail varnish remover. The chemicals bought were similar to those used to make the 2005 London Tube and bus explosives which killed 52 people.
Zazi, from Denver, Colorado, is understood to have been given instructions by a senior member of al Qaeda in Pakistan over the internet. US authorities allegedly found bomb-making instructions on his laptop and his fingerprints on batteries and measuring scales they seized.
A phone containing footage of New York’s Grand Central Station, thought to have been made by him during a visit a week before his arrest, was also found along with explosive residue. Zazi was also said by informants to have attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.
NEFA Report – The New York, Denver Terror Plot Arrests
October 25, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
This NEFA Foundation report, “Target: America”, provides details on Najibullah Zazi’s activities prior to his arrest and sheds light on why this case is considered by many experts to be the most significant terrorist plot on U.S. soil since 9/11.
The investigation into a plot to detonate explosive devices in the United States led by Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi and three yet-to-be-named accomplices is ongoing. To date, only three individuals have been arrested in connection with this case.
Only one, Najibullah Zazi, appears to be implicated in an operational capacity. Two others, Bosnian immigrant Adis Mendunjanin, and New York City cab driver Zarein Ahmedzay, have been questioned, but have not been arrested.1 A childhood acquaintance of Zazi’s, Naiz Khan, with whom Zazi stayed when he traveled to New York in September, is reported to be under surveillance in connection with the plot.
This is the most advanced U.S.-based plot since 9/11 that is said to be tied to Al-Qaida. According to media reports, high-ranking Al-Qaida operative Mustafa Abu al-Yazid3 used a middle man to contact Zazi.4 Although we have seen Al-Qaida-linked individuals in the U.S. engage in terrorist-related activities such as Iyman Ferris who surveilled the Brooklyn Bridge while in contact with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed5 we have not seen a fully operational plot in which operatives received direct training from Al-Qaida.
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Senator Calls For Tighter Restrictions on Peroxide
I agree withe Sen. Schumer on this one. Sen. Schumer (D-NY) is calling for a nationwide “awareness” program of sales of peroxide, a chemical widely used in over-the-counter hair dye formulas but also used by terrorists to make explosives.
You may recall, this was one of our suggestions in the recent National Homeland Security Dialogue (QHSR)
A recipe to make a homemade liquid bomb using concentrated peroxide, known as TATP, was found in Zazi’s computer, law enforcement officials say. It was said to be the same recipe used by terrorists in the London transit bombings that killed 56 and wounded more than 700 commuters on July 7, 2005
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Alleged US Terror Plot Among The Most Serious – Holder
October 6, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
Attorney General Eric Holder made it clear, the recently disrupted New York terror / bombing plot represented one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks, said on Tuesday. When asked about whether there would be more arrests and others charged, Holder replied, “It is our intention to bring all those involved in the plot to justice” and “the investigation is ongoing.”
From Reuters
“I can say the investigation is pretty far along. We have a pretty good handle who was involved and what was intended,” Holder told a news briefing.
“This alleged plot was one of the most serious terrorist threats to our country since September 11, 2001.”
An Afghan immigrant, Najibullah Zazi, was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of plotting to explode bombs in the United States. Zazi, who is being held without bail, has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said Zazi took a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, had notes on how to make explosives his laptop computer and acquired materials similar to those used in bomb attacks in London in 2005, buying acetone and hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply stores.
Holder said the plot, if it had been successful, could have killed “scores” of Americans, based on the chemicals involved, the history of similar plots and the number of people suspected of being involved.
The FBI has had under surveillance other suspects it believes may have helped Zazi acquire the chemicals and consulted with him on how to make explosives.
via Read Full Article.
Sources: Several Who Traveled With Alleged Terror Suspect, Back In US
October 4, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
There’s not a lot of detail yet however CNN is reporting that several associates who traveled from New York to Pakistan last year with alleged terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, have since returned to the United States.
A grand jury is said to be hearing evidence in the case but there is nothing to indicate whether additional charges will be filed against Zazi or any others.
From CNN
Prosecutors allege that on August 28, 2008, Zazi and others flew to Peshawar, Pakistan, a city with a strong Taliban and al Qaeda presence.
Those currently under surveillance in the United States include members of Zazi’s travel group, according to one source familiar with the investigation. Another source said at least some of the travel group are back in the United States. Officials will not discuss the identity, number or location of those under surveillance.
One of those under round-the-clock surveillance is Queens, New York, resident Naiz Khan. He and Zazi were friends as teenagers and Zazi stayed at Khan’s rented apartment on September 10 after driving to New York from Denver.
Khan said he has been caught up in the investigation by a series of coincidences. One was that he happened to meet Zazi at a local mosque hours after Zazi arrived in New York last month and offered him a place to stay. He said another coincidence was that he had flown back to the United States from Pakistan on the same day as Zazi: January 15.
via Sources: Several who went to Pakistan with Zazi back in U.S. – CNN.com.
Intel Agencies Go Through ‘Hot Wash’ of Terror Investigation
Time magazine takes a look at the New York terror investigation and the ongoing analysis of what worked in the investigation, what didn’t and what aspects need continued focus and exploration.
From Time
In military and intelligence parlance, it’s called a “hot wash” – an instant review of an operation, evaluating what worked, what didn’t, and how to make the next one better. With the case against U.S.-based terror suspect Najibullah Zazi now in Federal court, many of the agencies involved in the investigation, from the FBI to the police forces of Denver and New York, are retracing their steps.
“[What] we are doing now is asking ourselves why didn’t we know about this earlier,” says a senior Administration official. “Could we have known about this earlier? Could we improve our already very strong ability to identify and stop these types of activities early on?”
(Afghanistan-born Zazi has pleaded not guilty to the charge of plotting a terrorist attack; his next court date is Dec 3.)
Simultaneous to the hot washes, investigators are sifting through the evidence gathered to clear up some remaining gray areas in the case.
There are four areas of special interest:
1.The Afghan angle
2. Where the trail began.
3. Did the New York Police Department screw up?
4. The co-conspirators
Report: N.Y. Men Under Heavy Surveillance in Terror Probe
September 30, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Additional associates of alleged terror suspect Najiabullah Zazi are under heavy surveillance, according to law enforcement officials in a Fox news report. Authorities have said three unnamed people traveled from New York City to suburban Denver over the summer and used stolen credit cards to help Zazi buy products containing hydrogen peroxide and acetone, common ingredients for homemade bombs. The three returned to New York at some point but haven’t been accounted for publicly, nor have the “others” who court papers say joined Zazi on a trip to Pakistan last year.
Investigators are said to still be looking for additional accomplices and expect to make more arrests according to one official who declined to discuss details as to when that might happen or how many additional suspects may be involved.
Officials add that the men under surveillance are no longer considered a threat because the plot was thoroughly disrupted. The report states that both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation continues.
New York Terror Plot Suspect, Zazi Pleads Not Guilty
September 29, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
As expected, alleged New York terror suspect Najibullah Zazi has pleaded innocent to charges he and other plotted to carry out a terror attack in New York, earlier this month.
From The New York Daily News
Under super-heavy guard, the Afghan immigrant accused of hatching a plot to bomb New York pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court.
As three U.S. marshals hovered, Najibullah Zazi was ordered held without bail on charges of attempting to launch a large-scale massacre with explosives made out of beauty supplies.“Good morning, Mr. Zazi,” the judge said after Zazi was led in wearing handcuffs and the blue prison uniform over an orange T-shirt – and matching orange sneakers – that high profile federal inmates wear.
“Good morning,” Zazi replied.
via Read Full Article.
Federal Agents Identify Alleged Terror Plot Accomplices
Investigators have reportedly identified at least 3 alleged accomplices of the Najibullah Zazi, the man accused of plotting a major terrorist attack on New York City.
According to an Associated Press report, which cites a law enforcement source, a federal indictment mentions at least three people helping Zazi buy peroxide and acetone in suburban Denver from beauty supply stores.It’s alleged that those chemicals were going to be used to make explosives.The whereabouts of the accomplices or any of the bomb-making materials they procured is still unclear.
Federal agents and NYPD detectives working the case know the identities of three New Yorkers they believe are involved in some way, the AP reports.
Digital Fingerprints Detail Alleged Terror Suspects Trail
Details from the digital fingerprints left behind by alleged terror suspect Najibullah Zazito provided much of the evidence authorities needed to make the arrest according to an article on ZDnet. The report explains how the FBI was able to use the digital path left behind to track down the evidence that ultimately led to Zazi’s indictment.
From ZDnet
As you read the indictment and order for permanent detention you can almost picture the various connected databases and monitoring techniques at work. Simply put, Internet surveillance and information technology sleuthing played a big role in the Zazi case. FBI agents arrested Zazi in Colorado.
Jeffrey Knox, an assistant U.S. attorney, tells the tale in the permanent detention document.
Here’s a look at the key linchpins where IT crossed paths with detective work.
The Customs databases…Zazi flew from Newark Liberty International Airport to Peshawar, Pakistan on Aug. 28, 2008. Something triggered in a database, given that Zazi, 24, was going to Peshawar, known as a terrorism hotbed.
Pakistan email accounts…
Here’s where the surveillance kicked in. Knox notes in the order for detention:
Zazi is associated with three email accounts (”Email Account 1,” “Email Account 2″ and “Email Account 3″) that were active during his time in Pakistan. One of the accounts is directly subscribed to Zazi, and all three accounts contain slight variations of the same password. The government will establish at trial that these accounts were used in furtherance of Zazi’s efforts to manufacture explosive devices. Among other things, during a consent search of two of the three accounts, agents found jpeg images of nine pages of handwritten notes containing formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of different kinds of explosives. Based on email header information, these images had been emailed to Email Accounts 2 and 3 in early December 2008, while Zazi was in Pakistan. As discussed below, the same notes were transferred onto Zazi’s laptop computer in June 2009.
Customs databases again…
Zazi flew back to the U.S. via JFK International Airport in Queens on Jan. 15, 2009.
You are your Internet search history..Najibullah Zazi, From Smiling Face at Coffee Cart to Terror Suspect
To many, Najibullah Zazi was a familiar face on Stone Street in Lower Manhattan, serving pastries and coffee to the morning rush hour crowd near Wall St. No one could have guessed that this was the same person who would one day be an alleged terror suspect in a plot that would possibly rival 9/11, if carried out.
The NY Times takes a look at the background and life of Najibullah Zazi
For many on Wall Street — young, old, all in a hurry, the charging bulls of Bowling Green — his was the first hello of the day. Affable and rooted, he lived for 10 years in the same apartment with his family in Flushing, Queens. His father drove a cab for more than 15 years.
He was, in other words, no brooding outcast, no sheltered, suggestible loner raised in a closed community.
He was the smiling man who remembered a customer liked his coffee large, light and sweet. He had a “God Bless America” sign on his cart. He was the doughnut man.
But prosecutors say Mr. Zazi, 24, who worked blocks from ground zero, was just as furtive an operative as the Sept. 11 hijackers when he traveled to Pakistan last year for terrorism training and returned to the United States with a plan to build bombs using beauty supplies and backpacks.
NY Alleged Terror Suspect Zazi Indicted For Conspiring To Detonate WMD
September 24, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
How serious is the New York Terror threat the FBI is investigating? Consider This: CBS 2 is reporting, Najibullah Zazi, the Denver man believed to be the central figure in a terror plot against the New York City transit system, has officially been indicted on charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property in the United States.
In addition, WCBS reports the FBI is expanding its investigation into the alleged terror plot and nearly every one of the FBI’s 57 field offices in the country and several overseas are now in on the case, working along with local police.
Very serious.
The Denver Post provides a detailed summary of the indictment and the evidence that led to it.
In the Denver Post report, (citing the detention order) it states Najibullah Zazi plotted for over a year to detonate homemade hydrogen peroxide bombs in the United States, had recently bought bomb-making supplies from beauty supply stores and was looking for “urgent” help in the past two weeks to make explosives.
[...]
In July and August, Zazi bought unusually large amounts of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply stores in the Denver metropolitan area, the document says. He searched the Internet for home improvement stores in Queens before driving a rental car for a two-day trip to the city, the document says.
[...]
The document says that on Sept. 6 and 7, Zazi tried to communicate with another individual “seeking to correct mixtures of ingredients to make explosives.” “Each communication,” the papers say, was “more urgent than the last.” On those days, Zazi rented a suite at a hotel in his hometown of Aurora, Colo., authorities charge. The room had a kitchen, and subsequent FBI testing for explosives and residue in the suite found the presence of residue in the vent above the stove.
New York Terror Case Official Replaced
September 24, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
In a post yesterday, we cited Gerald Posner’s article at The Daily Beast. In the article Posner said behind the scenes in the ongoing New York terror investigation, agents were furious at two detectives of the New York Police Department intelligence unit, whose actions, according to a source familiar with the case, scuttled the long-running probe and forced a raid earlier than planned.
Today, in the NY Times we learn that a senior official in the case has been transferred to another assignment.
The New York Police Department has removed a senior official from one of its two sometimes competing antiterrorism units, after it played a role in disrupting a sensitive federal terrorism investigation, current and former police officials said on Wednesday. He was replaced by a top official from the other unit.
The department has acknowledged no missteps in the effort by Intelligence Division detectives to seek assistance from the imam, a disclosure that contributed to a significant disruption in the investigation.
But the transfer of the Counterterrorism Bureau official to the Intelligence Division, which has sometimes clashed with its local and federal partners, suggests that senior police officials are seeking to improve relations between the units. He is widely respected and has overseen a large contingent of detectives assigned to work with the F.B.I. on the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
via Read Article.
Feds Eye New Charges for New York Terror Suspect
September 24, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Homeland Security News
A former Queens resident at the center of a terrorism investigation in New York and Denver might soon face new charges, among them, terror-related counts, federal sources said. Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghanistan-born immigrant who works as a shuttle van driver at the Denver airport has so far only been charged with lying to the government during a criminal investigation.
NBCNewYork is saying sources have told them that Zazi could face terror-related counts and might be moved from Denver to Brooklyn, where he would be charged in the Eastern District Court on Cadman Plaza.
[...]
Zazi, who has admitted he received weapons training from al Qaida in Pakistan, is at the center of what officials said could be a plot to blow up subways or other targets in New York City.
He was found in possession of a bomb-making manual, batteries, a scale, and other equipment that could be used to make explosives, federal officials said.
[...]
A joint terrorism task force is continuing to canvas the New York City area to see if chemicals or bomb making equipment might be stores in our area, the sources told NBC New York.
Federal officials have also issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists’ desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels — while the MTA has boosted security on the city’s subway system and commuter trains at “key locations.”
