The FBI has conducted a series of raids in the Northeast in connection with the failed May 1 Times Square bomb plot. Search warrants have been executed in Boston, New York, and New Jersey that resulted in the arrest of two individuals on immigration violations.
In an around Boston, FBI agents were seen cordoning off a gas station on Harvard Street, a used car lot in Brookline, and a home in Watertown. Warren T. Bamford, the FBI Special Agent in Charge for Boston, confirmed the searches were related to the failed Times Square car bombing, which was carried out by Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.
“We can confirm that search warrants have been executed in several locations in the Northeast in connection with the investigation into the attempted Times Square bombing,” Bamford told The Boston Herald. “A number of individuals encountered during the searches were taken into federal custody for alleged immigration violations.”
Bamford also said the searches “are the product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation subsequent to the attempted Times Square bombing and do not relate to any known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States.”
Agents would not comment on whether the information that led agents to these locations is the result of more than a week of interrogation of Faisal Shahzad, who has been in custody since the failed bombing but has yet to appear in court.
Two men of Pakistani descent have been arrested, and one has been identified as Pir Khan, who is facing administration charges for overstaying his visa, not criminal charges. The other man has an order of removal against him, meaning the federal government determined that he had to leave the country.
The businesses being searched in the Boston area share the same owner, Elias Audy, who is listed as the proprietor of Cypress Automart and more than one Mobil gas station in the Boston area. Acquaintances and customers of Audy spoke highly of him, never suspecting him of playing any role in terrorist activities. A social networking site lists his education as Northeastern University and the website for his auto dealership touts the many civic and community awards he has received over the years. Audy’s bio claims Lebanon as his home country before he moved to America at age 19.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz emphasized that “there’s no known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States.” Law enforcement sources told CNN that the locations may have played a role in facilitating the transfer of money to carry out the failed Times Square attack.
