Sep 14, 2009 7:00 pm US/Pacific
FBI Raids N.Y. Residences In Terror Probe
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Residents in Queens, N.Y. were witness to an FBI raid Monday morning, as agents flooded the area looking for explosives.
CBS
FBI agents and police on a terrorism task force raided residences in New York City before dawn Monday after a visit from a person believed to be linked to al-Qaida.
The raids came after an individual under surveillance for alleged links to al-Qaida came to New York City over the weekend and left the area, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said after receiving a briefing on the raids from federal law enforcement officials Monday.
"This is an ongoing investigation that is being treated very, very seriously by the highest levels of the government," King said. "It's not usual to move for a warrant that quickly unless you see a very real potential danger."
King was one of several senior lawmakers in Washington D.C. in a classified briefing with the FBI on Monday night, following an early morning raid on four apartment homes in Flushing, CBS station WCBS-TV reported.
A swarm of FBI agents and NYPD detectives, part of the joint terrorist task force, carted away bags and boxes of material. A federal search warrant mentioning bomb-making components such as powder, gel, TNT, and nitroglycerin were among the items to be seized.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who also was briefed Monday, said a terrorist attack was not believed to be imminent.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne confirmed that searches were conducted in the borough of Queens by agents of a joint terrorism task force. He would not discuss the matter further.
Two U.S. intelligence officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly, said the target of any purported attack -- or who would carry it out -- remained unclear.
Authorities have not found any weapons ready for use -- such as a bomb -- that would indicate an attack was imminent, they said. Nevertheless, one of the officials called the threat very real and emphasized the urgency of the threat.
Another person briefed on the matter, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, said the raids were the result of previous law enforcement surveillance of individuals.
The investigation was continuing.
Sen. Schumer said he couldn't discuss much of the case because many of the details were still classified.
"There was nothing imminent, and they are very good now at tracking potentially dangerous actions and this was preventive," Schumer said. He added that the law enforcement action was unrelated to President Barack Obama's visit Monday to New York.
Monday afternoon, a man answering his apartment door at a three-story brick apartment building in a predominantly Asian neighborhood of Queens confirmed that police had been at his apartment earlier Monday. He and a woman in the apartment wouldn't comment further or identify themselves, closing their door to a reporter.
Nearby resident Kabir Islam, 24, said he saw FBI agents and police officers surrounding the apartment when he arrived home after 3 a.m. Monday.
Full body armor, bulletproof vests ... two of them are holding machine guns," witness George Pollakis said.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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