The Royal Canadian Mounted Police delivered 2.7 tonnes of potential bomb-making material to a group that authorities said wanted to launch a string of attacks inspired by al-Qaeda, according to a news report.
The Toronto Star reported on Sunday that the sting unfolded when investigators delivered the ammonium nitrate to the group of Muslim Canadians, then moved in quickly on what officials called a homegrown terror ring.
The newspaper said that investigators learned of the group's alleged plan to bomb targets around Ontario, then controlled the sale and transport of the fertilizer.
Authorities refused to discuss the Star's story and have revealed few details of the purported plot, or how the sting developed.
Police arrested 12 adults, ages 19 to 43, and five suspects younger than 18 on Friday and Saturday on charges including plotting attacks with explosives on Canadian targets.
The oldest, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, led prayers at a storefront mosque attended by 40 to 50 families down the street from his home in a middle-class neighborhood of Mississauga, west of Toronto.
Imam Qamrul Khanson said the language of Jamal's Friday night prayers had a more aggressive tone than other prayer leaders, but there was never any talk of terrorism or violence.
Khanson said at least three of the suspects regularly prayed at the al-Rahman Islamic Center for Islamic Education.
"Here we always preach peace and moderation," Khanson said at the one-room mosque.
"I have faith that they have done a thorough investigation," Khanson said of authorities. "But just the possession of ammonium nitrate doesn't prove that they have done anything wrong."
Officials said the operation involved some 400 intelligence and law-enforcement officers and was the largest counterterrorism operation in Canada since its adoption of the Anti-Terrorism Act following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Web surfing and e-mail among the suspects led to the start of the probe in 2004.
Muslim leaders voiced worries about a backlash. A mosque in northwest Toronto was vandalized, with 30 windows and three doors smashed, police said.
Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said that he and other Muslim leaders were getting threatening e-mails.
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