Three people were arrested and one other was being sought in connection to a plan to set off explosives in a fuel line that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport and runs through residential neighborhoods, officials close to the investigation said.
Details were to be given out at a 1 p.m. news conference.
The plot, which never got past the planning stages, did not involve airplanes or passenger terminals, according to the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the arrests had not yet been announced.
Instead, it focused on a pipeline that takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, according to WNBC-TV NewsChannel4Â’s Jonathan Dienst, who first reported the story.
A third law enforcement official said the suspects include a Guyanese man who used to work at JFK and who was arrested in New York City on Friday night. Two other suspects were apprehended in Trinidad. Investigators are seeking a fourth suspect in Trinidad.
The official said the plotters had conducted surveillance on giant jet fuel tanks at JFK and the Buckeye pipeline that runs from New Jersey to the airport. They had taken surveillance video of the targets and took it to Trinidad to review the tape, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrests were not yet announced.
The official said investigators first found out about the plot in January 2006. After that, an informant infiltrated the group.
“This was the ultimate hand-and-glove operation between NYPD and FBI,” said Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island. |