Another limit on business?

[Shinokamen]

Read this excerpt from a newspaper article:

"In the Caro case, three Texas men were arraigned Saturday on terrorism-related charges after police found about 1,000 cell phones in their minivan.

"Investigators believe those men were targeting the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge. But one of the men said they were only trying to buy and sell phones to make money.

"The store clerk said the men appeared to be "Middle Eastern" and said they had been coming into the store weekly to buy the phones.

"The Caro incident came to police attention after three men purchased 80 prepaid cell phones from a Wal-Mart store, police said. A suspicious Wal-Mart clerk called the police.

"'The cell phones can be used as detonators,' Caro Police Chief Ben Page said. 'Batteries can be disassembled and used to make methamphetamine. Obviously, there's something wrong here.'

"Maruan Awad Muhareb, of Mesquite, Texas; Adham Abdelhamid Othman, of Dallas; and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, of Mesquite, were arraigned on Saturday and charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes.

"Authorities in Caro, located in the Thumb, have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones. But Caro's police chief said cell phones can be used as detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable."

Obviously, there is something very wrong here: The fact that men may now be arrested for buying and possesing cell phones!

Of course cell phones can be used to detonate explosives, but does that make it illegal to posses them? If they make it illegal to have them in your car, soon you may have to wait for a background check and a 7-day waiting period to buy a cell phone!

What do you think?

[softwareNerd]

The suspicions are reasonable: young middle eastern men from Dearborn buying large quantities of a type of cell-phone that is used by those who do not want to be traced. I think that it warrants looking into, just as flight-training by a middle-eastern person who shows no interest in landing and take-offs warrants looking into.

If this was a regular business transaction, it ought not to be difficult for these people to explain their purchases. It is even possible that someone they believed was a businessman told them they could make money this way, and he would sell the phones elsewhere at a big profit. In that case, the cops should investigate their contact.

It is important for the police to treat young Arab-looking males with a small dose of extra suspicion.

[JMeganSnow]

Keep in mind that it's not sufficient for the prosecution to demonstrate that they had phones (that's not illegal), but there must be some proof of how they intended to use them in order for charges to be brought. The news doesn't always report the whole story.

[The Wrath]

I agree that the situation should be looked into and that law enforcement should be more suspicious of young Arab males, but I'd like to add that they are still presumed innocent until proven guilty...or at least until there's some kind of evidence as to how they plan to use them. Their explanation makes sense, but I don't know if I buy it.

[softwareNerd]

A news update: The government has dropped terrorism-related charges against the two sets of guys arrested with cell-phones.