CARO, Mich. -- The arrest of three men in Caro on charges of supporting terrorism was the Midwest's second case in a week in which terrorism charges were brought against people buying wholesale quantities of cellphones, authorities said.
The three suspects in the Michigan case were stopped by police Friday after they purchased 80 prepaid mobile phones from a
At the men's arraignment yesterday, a magistrate set bond at $750,000. They are facing charges of collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes. Officials have declined to elaborate on the alleged terrorist scheme.
No pleas were entered for the men at their arraignment, held at 71-B District Court in Caro, about 80 miles north of Detroit.
The arrests in Caro were made three days after two men were arrested in Marietta, Ohio, where police said they piqued suspicions when they acknowledged buying about 600 cellphones in recent months at stores in the southeast section of the state.
In the Michigan case, police said Maruan Awad Muhareb and Louai Abdelhamid Othman, both of Mesquite, Texas, and Adham Abdelhamid Othman, of Dallas, were stopped before dawn Friday not long after they purchased the cellphones.
The suspects were questioned by the local police and the FBI for several hours after their arrests.
Adham and Louai Othman are in their early 20s, and Muhareb is 18. All three were being held in Tuscola County Jail.
Caro Police Sergeant Dale Stevenson said the suspects in the Michigan case told investigators they planned to resell the phones to a wholesaler for profit.
Stevenson also declined to elaborate on how the case relates to terrorism. Telephone messages were left with the Tuscola County prosecutor's office and the FBI, which assisted with the investigation.
Stevenson said the men went to the 24-hour Wal-Mart store early Friday and bought the cellphones despite a store policy limiting customers to three phones per purchase.
A Wal-Mart clerk who thought the purchases were suspicious alerted police.
``They target these stores late, in the morning, hoping to get an inexperienced clerk," he said.
Police stopped the men's van about 1:30 a.m. and found nearly 1,000 phones, along with a laptop computer and a bag of receipts, Stevenson said.
``The cellphones can be used as detonators," Caro Police Chief Ben Page said. He also noted that phone batteries have chemicals that can be used to make methamphetamine.
READER COMMENTS »
View reader comments » Comment on this story »