ROY H
01-20-2005, 02:36 AM
FBI alerts Boston law enforcement about four suspects
By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press | January 19, 2005
BOSTON --The FBI notified Boston area law enforcement Wednesday to be on the lookout for four Chinese nationals described as possible terror suspects who may be headed to the area.
Federal law enforcement officials in Boston said they had received a tip earlier in the day about an unspecified threat against Boston, and released photographs of the four people they were seeking.
In a joint statement issued by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Kenneth Kaiser, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, they were identified as: Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen, Guozhi Lin.
Authorities said none of the names had been on previous watch lists of terror suspects, and their whereabouts aren't immediately known.
The investigation stirred a frenzy of media reports and prompted Gov. Mitt Romney, who had gone to Washington to attend Thursday's presidential inauguration, to decide to return to Massachusetts later Wednesday.
Romney told reporters in Washington that he planned to be on a 9 p.m. flight back to Boston, and cautioned that the threats were unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.
"We have had threats in the past. We take them seriously, even when they're not corroborated," he said.
Romney said that the state's threat level would not be raised, but more people would be on duty in the state's emergency management bunker in Framingham, about 20 miles west of Boston.
Asked why he didn't come back immediately after hearing of the threat in the morning, Romney said that as the information became more public, he wanted "to assure the people of Boston that it is safe to be at home."
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation, told The Associated Press that the FBI's joint terrorism task force has not yet corroborated a tip that the suspects entered the United States through Mexico in recent days, possibly bound for Boston.
The official stressed the tip is one of many from around the country that routinely are forwarded to local task forces for further investigation. No credible, specific terror threat has been identified in connection with the tip about suspects possibly entering the country from Mexico.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the terror alert had not been raised for Boston.
"Basically, what you have here is information that we often get," she said. "It's uncorroborated at this time."
"It's been passed on to our law enforcement partners and we're working it aggressively," she said.
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Another reported article.
By Tom Farmer and Michele McPhee
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Authorities are scouring Boston for four Chinese nationals and two Iraqi men who may pose a nuclear threat to the city based on a report from an unidentified man calling from Mexico who claims to have smuggled them over the U.S. border.
``They got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway Patrol several days ago, and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chinese (individuals) across the border and according to him, they stated soon to follow behind them would be some sort of (nuclear) material,'' said a law enforcement source.
``He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.''
The threat was serious enough that Mayor Thomas M. Menino hunkered down with Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole and Fire Commissioner Paul Christian and the city's Homeland Security chief in his office at City Hall. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency also activated its bunker in Framingham with a downscaled staff.
According to the source, the caller has not identified himself and did not show up for a meeting with federal investigators in California, but he did leave pictures and the names of two Chinese men and two Chinese women - reportedly chemists - at a ``drop'' site at the Mexico-California border. The information also makes reference to something happening ``within four days,'' said another law enforcement source.
Federal authorities in Boston identified the Chinese nationals being sought for questioning as Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen and Guozhi Lin. Sources said investigators have no information on the two Iraqis - including their gender.
Menino last night downplayed the threat, urging residents to partake in their normal activities. ``Public safety is our first priority,'' Menino said, while stressing the report fielded by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force came from a ``single anonymous source'' and has not been confirmed.
Gov. Mitt Romney [related, bio], in Washington, D.C., for President Bush's inauguration, planned to fly back to Massachusetts last night. ``We have had threats in the past. We take them seriously, even when they're not corroborated,'' he said.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card told the Herald last night that President Bush [related, bio] was informed of the uncorroborated Boston threat at his daily intelligence briefing yesterday morning.
``I'm shocked it made it into the newspaper because I don't think it is something that has been fully vetted,'' Card said. ``It was during the intelligence briefing . . . the president was given this sketchy intelligence. It was truly sketchy intelligence, but . . . anytime you hear the words that surround this kind of intelligence, it invites greater scrutiny.''
Attorney General Tom Reilly also downplayed the seriousness of the tip last night. ``We don't even know if these individuals are in the country,'' Reilly said, adding ``it's information that needs to be followed up.''
Sources said much of the man's information sounds far-fetched and investigators have some doubts about the caller's validity because he has not identified himself. ``A lot of it doesn't make sense and some of it does,'' said one source. ``It's totally uncorroborated. This all began several days ago as a series of phone calls and they don't know who the caller is. There are some parts of it that just don't make sense and other little pieces of it that fall into place.''
Another source said investigators have located an area along the U.S. border that matches the man's description of where he smuggled the six people across. ``They have corroborated the spot where he claims to have taken them over,'' said the source.
Multiple sources said there is speculation the caller may have been ripped off by the illegal aliens and is now trying to exact revenge.
``It's very weird. Even if (the Iraqis and Chinese) were going to do something, why would they be blabbing to the yahoo smuggling them across the border?'' one source noted. ``You have to wonder if they screwed him on a deal but you have to treat it seriously and the issue is how do you put it out to the public and not get everybody (in a panic)?''
By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press | January 19, 2005
BOSTON --The FBI notified Boston area law enforcement Wednesday to be on the lookout for four Chinese nationals described as possible terror suspects who may be headed to the area.
Federal law enforcement officials in Boston said they had received a tip earlier in the day about an unspecified threat against Boston, and released photographs of the four people they were seeking.
In a joint statement issued by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Kenneth Kaiser, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, they were identified as: Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen, Guozhi Lin.
Authorities said none of the names had been on previous watch lists of terror suspects, and their whereabouts aren't immediately known.
The investigation stirred a frenzy of media reports and prompted Gov. Mitt Romney, who had gone to Washington to attend Thursday's presidential inauguration, to decide to return to Massachusetts later Wednesday.
Romney told reporters in Washington that he planned to be on a 9 p.m. flight back to Boston, and cautioned that the threats were unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.
"We have had threats in the past. We take them seriously, even when they're not corroborated," he said.
Romney said that the state's threat level would not be raised, but more people would be on duty in the state's emergency management bunker in Framingham, about 20 miles west of Boston.
Asked why he didn't come back immediately after hearing of the threat in the morning, Romney said that as the information became more public, he wanted "to assure the people of Boston that it is safe to be at home."
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation, told The Associated Press that the FBI's joint terrorism task force has not yet corroborated a tip that the suspects entered the United States through Mexico in recent days, possibly bound for Boston.
The official stressed the tip is one of many from around the country that routinely are forwarded to local task forces for further investigation. No credible, specific terror threat has been identified in connection with the tip about suspects possibly entering the country from Mexico.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the terror alert had not been raised for Boston.
"Basically, what you have here is information that we often get," she said. "It's uncorroborated at this time."
"It's been passed on to our law enforcement partners and we're working it aggressively," she said.
___________________________________________________________
Another reported article.
By Tom Farmer and Michele McPhee
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Authorities are scouring Boston for four Chinese nationals and two Iraqi men who may pose a nuclear threat to the city based on a report from an unidentified man calling from Mexico who claims to have smuggled them over the U.S. border.
``They got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway Patrol several days ago, and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chinese (individuals) across the border and according to him, they stated soon to follow behind them would be some sort of (nuclear) material,'' said a law enforcement source.
``He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.''
The threat was serious enough that Mayor Thomas M. Menino hunkered down with Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole and Fire Commissioner Paul Christian and the city's Homeland Security chief in his office at City Hall. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency also activated its bunker in Framingham with a downscaled staff.
According to the source, the caller has not identified himself and did not show up for a meeting with federal investigators in California, but he did leave pictures and the names of two Chinese men and two Chinese women - reportedly chemists - at a ``drop'' site at the Mexico-California border. The information also makes reference to something happening ``within four days,'' said another law enforcement source.
Federal authorities in Boston identified the Chinese nationals being sought for questioning as Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen and Guozhi Lin. Sources said investigators have no information on the two Iraqis - including their gender.
Menino last night downplayed the threat, urging residents to partake in their normal activities. ``Public safety is our first priority,'' Menino said, while stressing the report fielded by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force came from a ``single anonymous source'' and has not been confirmed.
Gov. Mitt Romney [related, bio], in Washington, D.C., for President Bush's inauguration, planned to fly back to Massachusetts last night. ``We have had threats in the past. We take them seriously, even when they're not corroborated,'' he said.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card told the Herald last night that President Bush [related, bio] was informed of the uncorroborated Boston threat at his daily intelligence briefing yesterday morning.
``I'm shocked it made it into the newspaper because I don't think it is something that has been fully vetted,'' Card said. ``It was during the intelligence briefing . . . the president was given this sketchy intelligence. It was truly sketchy intelligence, but . . . anytime you hear the words that surround this kind of intelligence, it invites greater scrutiny.''
Attorney General Tom Reilly also downplayed the seriousness of the tip last night. ``We don't even know if these individuals are in the country,'' Reilly said, adding ``it's information that needs to be followed up.''
Sources said much of the man's information sounds far-fetched and investigators have some doubts about the caller's validity because he has not identified himself. ``A lot of it doesn't make sense and some of it does,'' said one source. ``It's totally uncorroborated. This all began several days ago as a series of phone calls and they don't know who the caller is. There are some parts of it that just don't make sense and other little pieces of it that fall into place.''
Another source said investigators have located an area along the U.S. border that matches the man's description of where he smuggled the six people across. ``They have corroborated the spot where he claims to have taken them over,'' said the source.
Multiple sources said there is speculation the caller may have been ripped off by the illegal aliens and is now trying to exact revenge.
``It's very weird. Even if (the Iraqis and Chinese) were going to do something, why would they be blabbing to the yahoo smuggling them across the border?'' one source noted. ``You have to wonder if they screwed him on a deal but you have to treat it seriously and the issue is how do you put it out to the public and not get everybody (in a panic)?''