3 Pakistanis arrested in Times Square probe

Three people from Pakistan were taken into custody in raids in the Northeast by federal agents in connection with the failed Times Square car bombing.

Investigators said it was not yet clear whether the three men knew how the money was going to be used.

The men — two seized in the Boston area, one in Maine — were arrested as federal authorities searched homes and businesses in a coordinated series of raids centered in the Boston suburbs, on New York’s Long Island and in New Jersey.

They were arrested on immigration violations — administrative, not criminal, charges. They were not charged with any terrorism-related crimes. Their names were not released.

The raids resulted from evidence gathered in the investigation into the Times Square bomb attempt two weeks ago. FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz gave assurances Thursday that there was “no known immediate threat to the public or any active plot against the United States.”

In Washington, Attorney General Eric Holder said investigators believe there is evidence that the men were providing Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, with money, but they have yet to determine whether the men knew the funds might have been intended for a terrorist act.

A top Massachusetts law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still going on, said investigators are not sure whether the two Boston-area men were witting accomplices or simply moving funds, as is common among people from the Middle East and Central Asia who live in the U.S.

“These people might be completely innocent and not know what they were providing money for,” the official cautioned, “but it’s clear there’s a connection.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said there was “not a direct tie” between the man arrested in South Portland, Maine, and the Times Square car bomb suspect.

Authorities have been investigating whether Shahzad — who authorities say needed only a few thousand dollars to buy the used SUV and the bomb components used in the attempted May 1 attack — was financed from overseas.

In Washington, a senior military official said Pakistani authorities had arrested a man claiming to be an accomplice of Shahzad. The official was unable to say what information the suspect may have provided. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity regarding the ongoing investigation, said money was passed to Shahzad through the informal transfer networks known as hawalas.