Jan 25 2008
Terrorism and the case of the disappearing copper
It’s these kinds of things that make you remember just how strange and hostile the world can be. To think, the metal thieves in the UK used to be a joke to us Americans. Thieves made a lucrative living stealing people’s doorknobs, metal lawn chairs, and other unlikely metal objects and sold them to dealers who then melted them down to create other things. To those aware of that strange wave of crime sweeping the UK, I don’t think we would’ve thought it would come here…
Undercover Op Leads To Cell Phone-Triggered Bomb
Improvised Explosive Device Offered For Sale To Undercover OfficersSAN JOSE, Calif. — By NBC11’s Garvin Thomas
San Jose and Santa Clara police chiefs announced Wednesday the results of a massive sting operation in their cities. Operation Meltdown, as the joint effort was called, netted investigators hundreds of criminals, tons of stolen copper, dozens of stolen cars and weapons, and in one case, homemade bombs.
A Fremont man was arrested in October as part of Operation Meltdown. He is accused of trying to sell the officers improvised explosive devices capable of being denoted remotely by a cell phone. During a news conference at San Jose Police headquarters Wednesday morning, police showed a video, recorded by hidden camera, of the suspect demonstrating the technology to officers by detonating a bomb for them.
Operation Meltdown was begun in March 2007. Undercover officers from both departments opened a fake metal-recycling business in the city of Santa Clara called Jose Clara Co-Op.
Within days, San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said, customers started showing up offering to sell what appeared to be stolen copper. Over the course of the next year, the undercover officers purchased 14 tons of copper with a street vale of almost $100,000. Soon after the officers began buying the copper, though, Davis said visitors to the recycling shop started offering to sell other stolen goods. The officers eventually purchached 40 stolen vehicles and 74 firearms, including 21 assault weapons.
You can read the rest of this article here.