Store clerk's tip key to foiling Fort Dix terror plot
Store clerk's tip key to foiling Fort Dix terror plot
WAYNE PARRY Associated Press Writer
Tuesday May 8th, 2007
FORT DIX, N.J. (AP) - Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, United States authorities have asked the public to remain vigilant for possible terror plots, urging, "If you see something, say something."
In January 2006, a store clerk in Mount Laurel saw something.
A group of men had brought him a video showing them firing weapons and chanting "God is Great!" in Arabic.
So he said something, calling the Mount Laurel Police Department, who in turn called the FBI.
J.P. Weis, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia office, praised the store clerk as "that unsung hero ... who saw a video and said, 'You know, somebody needs to know about this.' And that's why we're here today, thanks to the courage and heroism of that individual."
And thus began the downfall of a group of young men living quietly in the New Jersey suburbs, unaware they were becoming perhaps one of the most thoroughly documented group of terrorism suspects in recent history.
Hailing from Yugoslavia and the Middle East, they were charged with conspiring to carry out a slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Dix and other military installations in the northeast.
The suspects' images and words were captured on more than 50 audio and video recordings. Their comings and goings were recorded by law enforcement agents who monitored the plot for 15 months, hoping more terror ties would become apparent.
Those recordings depicted them as naive and careless plotters.
The men relied on a pizza deliveryman to scope out the sprawling Fort Dix military post for an attack. One lent his laptop computer to a government-paid infiltrator, urging him to watch terrorist training videos.
They played paintball in the woods, and showed terrorist training videos to the government's spy.
And when one of them suspected someone in their group was working for the government, he asked the infiltrator straight out if he was working for the FBI. Then, he said he was going ahead with his plans regardless.
"I don't know whether you're FBI, or the, an agent. Don't know," mused suspect Serdar Tatar on Nov. 28, 2006. He then continued, "I'm gonna do it. Whether you are or not (an FBI agent), I'm gonna do it."
Two weeks earlier, Tatar talked with the same infiltrator about targeting electrical systems at Fort Dix, causing a power outage that would make an attack easier.
Despite the suspects' sometimes sloppy preparations, authorities said they still had the potential to create serious carnage. They depicted a group of highly motivated would-be terrorists bent on killing hundreds of soldiers with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and guns.
"We had a group that was putting together a platoon to take on an army," Weis said. "Today we dodged a bullet. We may have dodged lots of bullets."
One suspect reportedly spoke of using rocket-propelled grenades to kill at least 100 soldiers at a time, according to court documents.
"If you want to do anything here, there is Fort Dix and I don't want to exaggerate, and I assure you that you can hit an American base very easily," suspect Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer said in a conversation last August that was secretly recorded by a government informant, according to the criminal complaint against him.
Fort Dix is used to train soldiers, particularly reservists. It also housed refugees from Kosovo in 1999.
Authorities say there is no direct evidence connecting the men to any international terror organizations, such as al-Qaida.
"We believe they are their own cell," said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie. "They are inspired by international terror organizations. I believe they saw themselves as part of that."
The suspects, who also spoke of attacking U.S. warships that might dock in Philadelphia, were arrested Monday night in Cherry Hill. Two were grabbed as they arrived at a meeting point intending to purchase three AK-47 automatic machine guns, and four semiautomatic M-16s from a government informant. The others were nabbed at their homes.
All appeared before a federal judge Tuesday afternoon and were ordered held without bail pending a hearing Friday morning.
"It doesn't matter to me whether I get locked up, arrested or get taken away ... or I die, it doesn't matter," Tatar said in a conversation recorded by an informant. "I'm doing it in the name of Allah."
Still another suspect, Eljvir Duka, was recorded by a second informant as saying, "In the end, when it comes to defending your religion, when someone is trying attacks your religion, your way of life, then you go jihad."
Officials said four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one in Jordan and one in Turkey. All had lived in the United States for years. Three were in the United States illegally; two had green cards allowing them to stay in this country permanently, and the sixth is a U.S. citizen.
Besides Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 22, Tatar, 23, and Eljvir Duka, 23, the other three men were identified in court papers as Dritan Duka, 28, Shain Duka, 26, and Agron Abdullahu, 24. Checks with Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka are brothers illegally living in the United States, according to FBI complaints unsealed with their arrests.
Five of the men lived in Cherry Hill, a Philadelphia suburb located about 20 miles from the Army post.
Christie said one of the suspects worked at Super Mario's Pizza in nearby Cookstown and delivered pizzas to Fort Dix, using that opportunity to scout out the possible attack.
"Clearly, one of the guys had an intimate knowledge of the base from having been there delivering pizzas," Christie said.
The men also allegedly conducted surveillance at other area military institutions, including Fort Monmouth, a U.S. Army installation, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, and a Philadelphia Coast Guard station.
Christie said all those installations could have been at risk had it not been for the store clerk, who he would not identify because the clerk is to be a key witness in the trial of the suspects.
"If we didn't get that tip," he said, "I couldn't be sure what would happen."
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Associated Press Writers Matt Apuzzo and Ben Feller in Washington, Geoff Mulvihill in Camden, Tom Hester Jr. in Trenton and Jeffrey Gold in Newark contributed to this story.
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/4893
