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Several Dearborn, Mich. men with alleged ties to terrorism are now in federal custody. Hassan Makki and Elias Akhdar are among the men believed to be involved in a multistate cigarette-selling scam to raise money for the terrorist group Hezbollah. The suspects reportedly smuggled thousands of cartons of cigarettes by truck to metro Detroit from New York Indian reservations -- where cigarettes are not taxed -- and from North Carolina -- where cigarette taxes are very low. Each carton smuggled to the state brought up to $7.50 profit to the suspects.
Makki is believed to be an official member of Hezbollah; Akhdar may be or have been involved in military incursions with Hezbollah. A third leader, Salim Awde, is being held in New York. His file reveals a conversation in which he said, “If you are working with the FBI, I will blow you away.”
This incidence underscores the fact that there are current operatives and supporters of a number of Islamic terrorist groups in the US. Many of these cells are supported by fraud, smuggling, drugs and other relatively low-end crimes. Law Enforcement officers investigating these types of incidents should be on the lookout for possible connections to terrorist groups.
Virginia -
A state trooper was shot and two people killed during a raid Tuesday night on an Eastern Shore home where a man was sought for threatening to poison Virginia’s water supplies. The trooper was wounded in the arm.
The two people killed were not identified. FBI agents and other law enforcement officials were attempting to arrest Ipolito “Polo” Campos at his home in Accomac, VA. A suspect who was in the house is in custody.
An unidentified person reported to the Accomack County Sheriff’s Department two weeks ago that Campos said he was sent here to poison Virginia’s waters and “if he did not poison the water someone would kill him,” according to federal court records. He has been charged with having phony immigration documents and using a false Social Security number.
An FBI spokesman said the reported threat to the water supplies remains under investigation by the region’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, but no credible evidence exists that any plan to carry out such an attack was in place. Police1 will keep you informed of any additional developments.