Men buying prepaid cell phones arrested on terrorism charges

(AP)
Saturday, August 12, 2006

Caro, Mich. - Three men of Middle Eastern descent were arrested Friday and were being held on terrorism charges after they purchased 80 prepaid cell phones from a Wal-Mart store, police said.

The men, who are from the Dallas area, were being held on charges of soliciting or providing material support for terrorism and obtaining information of a vulnerable target for the purposes of terrorism, Caro police Sgt. Dale Stevenson said. They were being held in Tuscola County Jail and were scheduled to be arraigned today.

Stevenson declined to explain why the men face terrorism-related charges. He said he did not know if the men are U.S. citizens.

Earlier Friday, Caro Police Chief Ben Page told The Bay City Times, "There's a very good possibility there are a number of laws that may have been broken."

Stevenson said the men, who are 18, 22, and 23, went to a 24-hour Wal-Mart store in Caro early Friday and purchased the cell phones despite a store policy limiting customers to three phones per purchase. A Wal- Mart clerk who thought the purchases were suspicious alerted police.

full story

Remind me to stay the hell away from Wal-Mart.

Anonymous