By BosNewsLife News Center
NEW YORK, USA (BosNewsLife)– Four men have been detained for allegedly planning to bomb a synagogue and a Jewish community center in the Bronx area of New York City and were expected to appear in federal court Thursday, May 21, police officials said.
The arrests of the three US citizens and a fourth man, originally from Haiti, came after a nearly yearlong undercover operation that began in Newburgh, N.Y., about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of New York City. said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“We targeted four individuals that planned and schemed to bomb two Jewish facilities here in the Bronx, and to take down military aircraft up at Stewart airport,” added FBI Assistant-Director Joe Demarest.
FBI officials said undercover agents sold them fake explosives and a missile for terrorist attacks. Besides being accused of plotting to bomb Jewish targets, they reportedly also may face charges with conspiring to attack an Air National Guard base about 62 miles (100 kilometers) upstate.
Last May, the men bought what they thought was a quantity of C-4 plastic explosive and a Stinger surface-to-air missile for the attacks allegedly planned for last night, police officials said. They did not know that the C-4 was inert, the Stinger could not be fired, and the seller was an FBI agent, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Each man is facing a life sentence, charged with plotting to use weapons of mass-destruction in the US, and conspiracy to use anti-aircraft missiles, news reports said.
