Sep 24, 2009 3:56 am US/Eastern
FBI Terror Probe Expands, Intensifies
Investigation Into Alleged NYC Bomb Plot Includes Nearly All of the Bureau's U.S. Field Offices
Criminal Complaint Suggests Cops May Have Tipped-Off Zazi By Questioning New York Imam, Seizing Car
Reporting
Lou Young
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Federal agents get ready to search the apartment of Najibullah Zazi in Aurora, Colorado, Sept. 16.
AP
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Mohammed Zazi, father of Najibullah Zazi, was arrested along with his son and a third man from New York City for possible ties to terrorists.
AP
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Najibullah Zazi, 24, arrives at the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building on Sept. 17, 2009, in Denver, Colo.
Marc Piscotty/Getty Images
The FBI is expanding its investigation into an alleged terror plot targeting New York City, and nearly every one of the FBI's 57 field offices in the country and several overseas are now in on the case, working along with local police.
On Wednesday, the NYPD was showing a new training video in precincts citywide detailing the intelligence from the agencies. Bomb Squad Commander Lt. Marc Torre narrates the video, giving regular cops some tips on how to spot evidence of homemade bombs.
"Of particular concern to us is a family of explosives called peroxide-based explosives," he says in the video.
It's part of the now-nationwide alert as police try to locate whoever might have been working with terror suspect Nazibullah Zazi, the Afghan-born Denver resident who federal sources believe is the central figure in a terror cell involving at least 12 people. Police are being told to watch for any large quantities of hydrogen peroxide, drain cleaner, acetone, or nail polish remover – various types of acids – and large quantities of ammonia nitrate or urea fertilizer.
That's coupled with visits to public storage areas to enlist the assistance of employees there, and stepped-up security on mass transit, hotels, stadiums, and entertainment complexes.
It's not just New York either. People across the country are experiencing the same routine as folks who were going through heightened security at Citi Field for the Mets game last night.
"It makes me feel a lot safer even if it takes a few extra seconds to get through," said baseball fan Ashley Dripps.
So far there are three people under arrest in connection with the alleged plot. The prime suspect, being held in Denver, his father, and a Queens cleric who was arrested over the weekend in New York, are all scheduled to be back in federal court on Thursday.
CBS News learned Tuesday that a hunt was on to see if suspects had stored a cache of explosives somewhere in New York City. In an exclusive interview with "60 Minutes," Attorney General Eric Holder told correspondent Steve Kroft just how urgent the threat was.
"I think we've disrupted that which they've planned and it's not totally clear to us at this point what it is they had in mind, though I think it is clear that something very serious and something very organized was under way," Holder said.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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