FBI conducts terrorism-related search in Miami

FBI arrests seven in terrorism-related search
Miami investigators claim men conspired to attack Sears Tower
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services


Updated: 5:39 p.m. PT June 22, 2006
MIAMI - Federal law-enforcement sources tell NBC News that the FBI has arrested seven men in Miami as part of an ongoing terrorism operation.

The men — part of a radical Black Muslim group — were planning terror acts in Miami and Chicago, the officials say. The planned targets were the Sears Tower in Chicago and a federal building in Miami.

An FBI informant infiltrated the group, the sources say, neutralizing the threat. They say it's not clear how much damage the group would have done on its own. They were making plans to purchase bomb-making materials, the officials add.

Indictments against the men will be unsealed Friday for charges including an attempt to "maliciously damage or destroy" property "by means of an explosive," a source added. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled to hold a news conference Friday to discuss the raid. A simultaneous news conference will be held in Miami.

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that more details about the ongoing operation would be released Friday.

Local media reported that agents were raiding a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City section.

"There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.

‘Blocking the streets’
Cedric Thomas, an owner of Thomas Produce Market, told The Miami Herald the area around his store was teeming with federal agents.

"There is a ton of guys in uniforms moving around, blocking the streets," Thomas said.

Several terrorism investigations have had south Florida links. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, and several plots by Cuban-Americans against Fidel Castro's government have been based in Miami.

Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the U.S., is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror cell.