LA Police Making Pre-emptive Terror Arrests
Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2003 5:50 pm
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- In response to the national terrorism alert, Los Angeles police have made "a number of pre-emptive arrests," a high-ranking LAPD source said Tuesday.
Those arrests were made in the past 48 hours and included people who came to authorities' attention after the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terror attacks in the United States.
The source stressed that none has been charged with any terrorism-related offense but were rounded up on unrelated charges -- in one case, credit card fraud -- in an effort to get information about possible threats. None of those picked up was identified.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN a number of grand jury subpoenas have been issued in the Los Angeles area in the past few days as part of a "massive investigative effort" -- with a real sense, the source said, of "trying to beat a ticking clock."
There are briefings -- sometimes several in a day -- involving various FBI field offices in key cities -- especially New York, Washington and Los Angeles -- in an effort to "coordinate the intelligence gathering," the federal source said.
Newly installed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said security has been increased across the state.
"Airports, harbors, bridges, power plants and other key areas will receive extra security," he said. "This is an elevated state of readiness to ensure the safety of all of our people in California."
In addition to the arrests in California, numerous people named on America's terrorist watch lists have been prevented from entering the United States, a government official said Tuesday.
The official, who would not provide specifics, said the people were turned back at various locations. Another government official said a handful of flight crew members from other countries also have been stopped in recent days.
The United States has been working with airlines and governments of other countries in an attempt to improve their security, especially after Sunday's move by the Department of Homeland Security to raise the nation's terror threat level from "elevated" (yellow) to "high" (orange).
Those arrests were made in the past 48 hours and included people who came to authorities' attention after the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terror attacks in the United States.
The source stressed that none has been charged with any terrorism-related offense but were rounded up on unrelated charges -- in one case, credit card fraud -- in an effort to get information about possible threats. None of those picked up was identified.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN a number of grand jury subpoenas have been issued in the Los Angeles area in the past few days as part of a "massive investigative effort" -- with a real sense, the source said, of "trying to beat a ticking clock."
There are briefings -- sometimes several in a day -- involving various FBI field offices in key cities -- especially New York, Washington and Los Angeles -- in an effort to "coordinate the intelligence gathering," the federal source said.
Newly installed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said security has been increased across the state.
"Airports, harbors, bridges, power plants and other key areas will receive extra security," he said. "This is an elevated state of readiness to ensure the safety of all of our people in California."
In addition to the arrests in California, numerous people named on America's terrorist watch lists have been prevented from entering the United States, a government official said Tuesday.
The official, who would not provide specifics, said the people were turned back at various locations. Another government official said a handful of flight crew members from other countries also have been stopped in recent days.
The United States has been working with airlines and governments of other countries in an attempt to improve their security, especially after Sunday's move by the Department of Homeland Security to raise the nation's terror threat level from "elevated" (yellow) to "high" (orange).