Post by tygerarmy on Sept 15, 2009 9:30:30 GMT -5
Dramatic raids in search of terror: Feds move on Qaeda suspect's Queens pals
Queens Raid Finds Counterfeit $18 Million
Federal officials launched a series of raids Monday after tailing a suspected Al Qaeda operative believed to have been orchestrating a bomb plot.
FBI agents thought the threat was significant enough to race to court Sunday night to get an emergency search warrant to look for bomb-making components, explosive powders, gels, TNT and fuses, sources said.
The raids came hours before President Obama visited the city to give a speech on the economy and just days before world leaders converge on New York for the UN General Assembly. Officials said there was no indication that the plot was related to either event.
FBI agents thought the threat was significant enough to race to court Sunday night to get an emergency search warrant to look for bomb-making components, explosive powders, gels, TNT and fuses, sources said.
The raids came hours before President Obama visited the city to give a speech on the economy and just days before world leaders converge on New York for the UN General Assembly. Officials said there was no indication that the plot was related to either event.
Queens Raid Finds Counterfeit $18 Million
Federal agents said yesterday that they had seized a printing press and more than $18 million in counterfeit money in an apartment at 1683 Cypress Avenue in Glendale, Queens.
Two brothers and a third man printed the bills, in denominations of $10 to $100, and sold them at 10 to 50 percent of the face value, said the special agent in charge of the New York office of the Secret Service, Richard Ward. ''When this was heavy, $50,000 to $60,000 a week was being passed in New York City,'' he said. ''Now, since this plant, we're down to $32,000 a week and dropping.''
Undercover agents bought $6,000 in counterfeit money in January and arranged to buy $135,000 of the fake money for $28,000 on Feb. 6 at Hancock Street and Myrtle Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, where they arrested Zenon D. Rodriguez, 53 years old. His brother Juan, 51, was arrested on Feb. 16 with $300,000 in fake money, Mr. Ward said. The third suspect, Pedro Tavares, 39, of 2 Marble Avenue, the Bronx, was arrested last Wednesday.
Two brothers and a third man printed the bills, in denominations of $10 to $100, and sold them at 10 to 50 percent of the face value, said the special agent in charge of the New York office of the Secret Service, Richard Ward. ''When this was heavy, $50,000 to $60,000 a week was being passed in New York City,'' he said. ''Now, since this plant, we're down to $32,000 a week and dropping.''
Undercover agents bought $6,000 in counterfeit money in January and arranged to buy $135,000 of the fake money for $28,000 on Feb. 6 at Hancock Street and Myrtle Avenue in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, where they arrested Zenon D. Rodriguez, 53 years old. His brother Juan, 51, was arrested on Feb. 16 with $300,000 in fake money, Mr. Ward said. The third suspect, Pedro Tavares, 39, of 2 Marble Avenue, the Bronx, was arrested last Wednesday.
