NEW YORK – Three people were arrested and one other was being sought Saturday 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.
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.
Details were to be given out at a 1 p.m. news conference.
The pipeline takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.
The arrests mark the latest in a series of alleged homegrown terrorism plots targeting high-profile American landmarks.
A year ago, seven men were arrested in what officials called the early stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and destroy
FBI offices and other buildings.
A month later, authorities broke up a plot to bomb underwater New York City train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan.
And six people were arrested a month ago in an alleged plot to unleash a bloody rampage on Fort Dix in New Jersey.
UPDATE:
NEW YORK (CNN) — Four men have been charged with conspiring to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Homeland Security sources said there is no current threat at the airport and the attack as planned was "not technically feasible."
The alleged plot did not target airplane flights, officials said.
A wiretap transcript given to CNN by the FBI indicates the plotters targeted the airport because of the popularity its namesake, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow … they love JFK — he's like the man," former JFK airport cargo worker Russell Defreitas said in a telephone conversation monitored by the FBI.
"If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice," Defreitas added.
At a Justice Department news conference Saturday afternoon, the plotters were described as "a determined group" whose signature was persistence.
Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native Guyanan, was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, according to a written statement from the Department of Justice. He was arraigned Saturday in federal court in New York.
The other suspects were identified as Abdul Kadir of Guyana, Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, and Abdel Nur. The United States plans to seek extradition of the three men charged outside the United States.
Several law enforcement officials told CNN earlier that Kadir was a former member of parliament in Guyana.
Defreitas identified targets and escape routes and assessed airport security, the complaint alleges. Officials said the "defendants obtained satellite photographs of JFK airport and its facilities from the Internet and traveled frequently among the United States, Guyana and Trinidad to discuss their plans and solicit the financial and technical assistance of others."
The Justice statement said the men began planning the assault on January 6. A complaint alleges that the plot tapped into an international network of Muslim extremists from the United States, Guyana and Trinidad.
An official described the suspects as "al Qaeda wannabes."
In one conversation taped by the FBI, Defreitas discusses an incident he says motivated him to strike JFK. He claimed he saw military parts being shipped to Israel, including missiles, that he felt would be used to kill Muslims.
He says he "wanted to do something to get those bastards."
In another recorded conversation with his alleged conspirators in May 2007, Defreitas compared the plot to attack JFK airport with the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, saying, "Even the Twin Towers can't touch it. This can destroy the economy of America for some time," according to Justice officials.
The plot was revealed when the planners tried to recruit a person who was a law enforcement informant, sources said.
The fuel supply for the airport is linked primarily to the Buckeye Pipeline, which distributes fuel and other petroleum products to sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
"We were concerned, not only about an attack on the fuel tank farms at JFK but along the 40-mile aviation fuel pipeline that courses its way from Linden, New Jersey, through Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens," said New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
"The fuel line is the feeding tube that nourishes national and international commerce through LaGuardia and JFK airports."
Kelly said the NYPD's counterterrorism unit conducted a mile-by-mile survey of the pipeline after hearing about the alleged plot.
JFK handles on average more than 1,000 flights daily, about half of which are international flights. Each year, the airport processes about 45 million passengers and more than 1.5 million tons of cargo with an estimated value of $120 billion.
A written statement from the White House said, "The president has been briefed and updated regularly on the progress of the investigation, and this case is a good example of international counterterrorism cooperation."
Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said law enforcement had the plot "under control" for some time.
"There is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland at this time, and there are no adjustments to our security posture being made as a result of this plot," a Homeland Security official said.
"We consider this plot to have been credible with an intent to commit acts of violence, but not yet fully operational," the official said.
Ok, I have some experience with pipelines but am not expert by any means. However, the lines (mostly natural gas) that I've seen blow do usually blow out pretty good but it does not blow the whole line, just a small area, a few hundred yards in diameter at most from the initial flash. They could have blown a tank I guess but that doesn't guarantee that it would blow adjacent tanks. And if there is a sudden drop in pressure, emergency valves typically are in place to cut the flow so you just wait out the burning of contents between the valve and the blowout.
And while they might have disrupted the flow of fuel it would be back online within a week or two and in the interim they could use tanker trucks, not ideal but doable.
I don't want to downplay any attack but I think these guys were amateurs at best and at worst would have caused about 10% of the damage they thought would occur.
Just my 2 cents…