DEP Invoice or Financial Record, September 30, 2001

z o F^.I, Says 20 in Custody Sought to Transport Hazardous Materials z o i ------------------------------ co § '2 o o By DAVID JOHNSTON and NEIL A. LEWIS official said the F.B.l, was investigat­ ing whether the hijackh^ plot may fore in some of the most deadly ter­ ror bombings that have been attrib­ Since the attacks on Sept. 11, F.B.l. agents have questioned former ■ ■D c CT originated in Germany, buf\was con­ uted to Mr, bin Laden’s followers, o' cn WASHINGTON, Sept, 25 - About friends and associates of Mr. al-Mar- ■D KJ 20 of the people arrested after the tinuing to look for accomplices in the A Nissan Atlas refrigerator truck abh, 34, including drivers at the Bos­ O KJ 3, 00 Sept, 11 attack on the World Trade United States, packed with explosives was used in ton Cab Company, where he worked. 03 cn the August 1998 bombings of the In Michigan, Mr. al-Marabh pre­ Center and the Pentagon had ob­ As the authorities compiled infor­ o tained or tried to obtain special driv­ mation about people they sought in United States embassies In East Af­ sented an immigration card with a o er’s licenses allowing them to trans­ the hijacking investigation, they be­ rica that killed 224, including 12 photo and driver's licenses from On­ o c port explosives, poisons or other gan finding many of these license Americans, Mr, bin Laden was in­ tario and Massachusetts to obtain a 3 types of hazardous materials, fed­ applications and began to see a pat­ dicted as a conspirator in that attack, chauffeur’s license, said Elizabeth Q 3 eral officials said today. tern that remains unexplained. Be­ and four of his associates were con­ Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Michi­ The authorities are investigating cause few of the men in custody are victed in the plot, gan secretary of state. On Sept. 11, whether these men may have been cooperating, it is possible that inves­ A rental truck packed with explo­ 2000, Mr. al-Marabh upgraded the part of a terrorist plot. But they said tigators may never fully understand license so he could drive 18-wheelers whether, as some officials suspect, sives was used in the 1993 bombing of and transport hazardous materials. they did not have evidence that they the World Trade Center, States issue licenses to commer­ were part of the plot to hijack the they unearthed preparations for some other kind of attack. In his comments to the Senate cial drivers under federal rules. airliners used to attack the World Today, officials would not identify Judiciary Committee, Mr, Ashcroft Each driver must pass a driving test Trade Center and the Pentagon, any people in custody who got or said that the F,B,I, had informed the and a written examination. Drivers The arrests prompted the F,B.I, to issue warnings today to officials in applied for hazardous materials local police to be vigilant for suspi­ may upgrade their licenses to permit driver’s licenses, nor would they de­ cious activity regarding hazardous them to transport hazardous materi­ New York and other cities about the tail how these men might be linked to materials and crop-dusting aircraft. als. To upgrade their licenses, driv­ threat of truck bombs or the use of Osama bln Laden nor why they had But he did not say whether the au­ ers are tested on their knowledge of trucks in a chemical attack, the offi­ first come to the attention of authori­ thorities had specific information hazardous materials, understanding cials said. In response, New York about a continuing threat. ties in the hijacking investigation, of safety measures and transporta­ City officials stepped up spot inspec­ Mr, Ashcroft compared the au­ Today, the Transportation Depart­ tion methods for various materials. tions of trucks at the tunnels and thorities’ Interest in these 20 men to ment Issued a warning to transporta­ The Federal Motor Carrier Safety bridges leading to Manhattan, their investigation of reports that tion companies of unconfirmed re­ Administration at the Transporta­ Attorney General John Ashcroft, Mohamed Atta, who is suspected of ports of the possible attacks involv­ tion Department sets standards for testifying today before the Senate commercial drivers. They must sub­ being a central figure in the hijack­ ing chemical, biological or radioative Judiciary Committee, said those ar­ materials. The warning said in part, rested “may have links,’’ which he ing plot, had asked suspicious ques­ mit information including their true tions about crop-dusting planes. “The F,B,I, and U,S, Department of did not specify, to the 19 men sus­ Transportation have no information name, a photo and valid address. pected of hijacking four jetliners on The 20 men were arrested since In Florida today, a bank president the attacks on suspicion of lying of any specific threats directed Sept, 11, Another senior official said against additional targets; however, said F.B.l, agents told him that one of the efforts to obtain special trucking the U,S, transportation industry the suspected hijackers sought a licenses suggested “that these peo; about their identities on applications for the licenses, law officials said. should remain at a heightened state government loan last year to buy a pie may have looked at a broader of alert,’’ crop-duster plane or set up a crop­ range of ways to attack us,’’ The men are not cooperating with Investigators, the officials said. Last week, federal agents In De­ dusting business, Mr, Ashcroft did not detail the troit who were searching for Nabil possible connections. Other officials Their efforts to obtain these licenses Robert Epllng, president of Com­ were detected after several of them al-Marabh, a suspected associate of said they had not yet determined munity Bank of Florida, in Home­ were arrested as part of a broad Mr, bin Laden, uncovered evidence whether the hazardous materials li­ stead, said federal investigators told sweep of people that the F,B,I, be­ that he obtained a license to trans­ censees were coordinating another port hazardous materials. bank officials that Mr, Atta went to a attack with the suspected hijackers, lieved might have had some connec­ Farm Service Agency office of the The authorities had previously operating In an alliance with them, tion to the hijackers. linked Mr, al-Marabh to a former Department of Agriculture on the or had no connection to the plot. States issue the special driver’s fourth floor of the bank’s building to Boston cabdriver now jailed in Jor­ On Monday, a senior law enforce­ licenses, but the minimal standards dan on charges of plotting attacks on apply for a loan about a year ago, Mt, ment official said the Federal Bu­ are set by the federal government. tourist and holy sites there on the eve Epllng said three employees later reau of Investigation had not yet The licenses permit people to drive of the millennium celebrations. The Identified Mr, Atta, After telling him found any knowing accomplices to trucks that carry poisonous, flam­ attacks were foiled by Jordanian au­ their office did not make such loan^, the suspected hijackers In the United mable, or other dangerous agents. thorities, who said the plans were Mr, Epllng said, they referred Mr, States or any broad network of sup­ Officials said the 19 suspected hi­ ordered by one of Mr, bin Laden’s top Atta to the bank on the first floor. port in this country for that plot. The jackers did not have licenses to lieutenants. transport hazardous materials. Heavy trucks have been used be-