PREVENTING
TERRORIST ATTACKS ON U.S. SOIL
The Case of the Wrong Package Falling into the Right Hands
04/09/04
It
began with a misdelivered package.
Inside
it were half a dozen fake identification documents – birth
certificates from three states, a social security
card, Defense Intelligence Agency and United Nations
ID cards – all in different names, but with
the same picture. And a note: "Hope this package
gets to you O.K., we would hate to have this fall
into the wrong hands."
Luckily,
it fell into what we'd call the right hands. The
New York resident who mistakenly received the package
notified police, who called in the FBI.
The
return address led to a Texas man, William Krar,
and his longtime companion, Judith Bruey. Turned
out that trafficking in phony IDs was just the iceberg
tip of their illegal activities.
What
did agents find stashed in three storage lockers
the pair had rented? Lots of sodium cyanide
and other chemicals, instructions on how to combine
them to make deadly poison gases; more than 25
machine guns, rifles and pistols; over 250,000
rounds of ammunition; and various kinds of explosives.
At their home, agents found more guns, chemicals,
and blank fake ID cards.
Who
were these people? The couple, who owned
a company that made gun parts, had ties to members
of the anti-government "militia movement" in
New England. The addressee, Edward Feltus, was
a member of the New Jersey militia who had his
own cache of weapons stored at his Vermont "safe
house."
All
three were arrested in the spring of 2003 after a
joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives, the Army Criminal Investigation
Division, the Defense Department Criminal Investigative
Service, and the FBI's Dallas, Boston and Newark
offices. They have since pled guilty – Mr.
Krar to possessing a dangerous chemical weapon; Ms.
Bruey to conspiracy to possess illegal weapons; and
Mr. Feltus to aiding and abetting the transportation
of false IDs. They are scheduled to be sentenced
next month.
The
investigation continues as FBI field offices around
the country are questioning associates of the trio
to determine whether their activities were part of
a broader terrorist plot.
How
prevalent are cases of "domestic terrorism"? You
may be surprised. Domestic terrorism cases have
nearly doubled over the past five years, from almost
3,500 in 1999 to more than 6,000 in 2003.
You
can help. It was a tip from an alert citizen
that led to the arrest of these domestic terrorists
and the dismantling of their weapons arsenal. If you
have any information that might stop a terrorist plot,
please call your local
FBI office or submit
a tip yourself.
Link: DOJ
press release
