Thread: MA. men arrested in Tsarnaev case own BMW with “Terrorista” plate

New Bedford men arrested in Tsarnaev case own BMW with “Terrorista” plate

By Matt Camara
also by Ariel Wittenberg
April 23, 2013 9:21 PM

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NEW BEDFORD — Two college-age men from Kazakhstan arrested on immigration violations in a city apartment complex last weekend own the BMW sporting a “TERRORISTA #1” vanity plate, according to one of their fathers.
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who socialized at the apartment, tweeted photos of the car a month before the April 15 attacks.
The two men arrested are Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 20, according to Kazakh media outlets and a source close to the investigation.
The father of one of the men — both of whom are from Kazakhstan — has complained on a Kazakh news website and TV station that the only possible reason his son could have been detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement was because he missed too many UMass Dartmouth classes.
A source close to the investigation, however, said the two students were not even currently registered for classes.
ICE officers arrested Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov Saturday on “administrative immigration violations” while investigating a New Bedford apartment complex that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev frequented.
Murat Kadyrbayev was quoted in Tengri News (en.tengrinews.kz) and STV Channel describing the two young Kazakhs as simply in Tsarnaev's social circle.
“They knew Tsarnaev and hang around together sometimes,” he said, maintaining they “were questioned only as witnesses.”
The elder Kadyrbayev, however, acknowledged that a BMW with a vanity plate “TERRORISTA #1” was owned jointly by his son and the other Kazakh but said it was just a joke from some Spanish friends.
Tsarnaev a month before the marathon bombing tweeted several photos of the BMW next to a black Chevrolet Camaro, with the caption “Place your bets.”
“This joke led to trouble,” Murat Kadyrbayev said. “But (the plate) was just a gag of their Spanish friends, just a gift,” he said.
“I hope that American police will look into the facts and make the right decision,” the father told the media outlets.
“Most of the students who came in contact with Tsarnayev (sic) are being checked now, my son is not the only one. Nobody is an exception.”
Federal agents first took Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev — in the country on student visas — into custody Friday but released them. Saturday afternoon the agents returned to the 69 Carriage Drive apartment and arrested them. A woman also was taken from the apartment Saturday in a van bearing consular license plates from an undetermined consul.
The two men are being held in the Suffolk County House of Corrections in the South Bay part of Boston, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
Police believe Tsarnaev was in the Carriage Drive apartment often and possibly lived there for a time.
Both Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov attended UMass Dartmouth at some point although university officials have declined to confirm if they are still students.
The BMW was towed away, neighbors said, and where it is now remains unclear.
The provocative vanity plate caused a stir following the raid as national and international media outlets ran photos of it.
The plate, which translates to “terrorist” in Spanish, also includes the UMass Dartmouth name and Corsair logo. The BMW also features an expletive-laden sticker on the rear.
A license plate holder on the car is from BM Motor Cars, a used car dealership in Rahway, N.J.
An employee at BM told The Standard-Times Tuesday he did not remember the company selling a car to any Massachusetts residents over the past two years but that the type of BMW the students owned (the “3 series”) is very popular and often resold.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesman has repeatedly declined to provide any specifics on the raid or what the pair was taken into custody over, saying only that two “foreign nationals” were detained over “administrative immigration violations.”
The Standard-Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request Tuesday morning for the men's identities and the specific charges against them.
Kazakhstan's embassy in Washington released a statement earlier this week saying neither man has complained about his treatment at the hands of U.S. officials and that the Central Asian nation's consul is in Boston to assist the detainees.
The statement said only that the pair had “violated the U.S. visa regime.”
　
　
　
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130423/NEWS/130429952/-1/NEWS10

http://www.alipac.us/f12/immigration...uspect-277222/ 4/26/13

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