Earth Changes TV - FBI Launches Probe Into Possible Seattle Bomb Plot

FBI Launches Probe Into Possible Seattle Bomb Plot...12/18/99

(MSNBC) SEATTLE, — In a case that has set off Y2K alarms, a 28-year-old man was charged Friday with trying to bring explosives from Canada into Washington state. Authorities said the man was carrying more than 100 pounds of explosive materials and sophisticated timing devices, and they fear that he was involved in a wider New Year’s terror plot. They told NBC News that they were desperately searching for potential accomplices.

AT an internal court appearance in Seattle on Friday, Ahmed Ressam was charged with two counts of knowingly transporting explosives from Canada to the United States. He was also charged with having false identification papers and making false statements to U.S. Customs Service officials when he arrived in the country Tuesday.

Ressam was arrested as he attempted to enter the United States at Port Angeles, Wash., after taking a car ferry from Victoria, British Columbia. Federal agents believe an associate of Ressam was able to walk off the ferry while Ressam was being arrested, and remains in the United States.

When U.S. Customs agents took Ressam aside and asked him to open the trunk of his rented car, he fled on foot. He was taken into custody several hours later, about five blocks from the ferry terminal.