Dutch investigators yesterday questioned two men arrested at Amsterdam’s airport after US authorities found suspicious items in their checked luggage, including a cellphone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle and a knife and box cutter.
The pair were arrested on Monday morning at Schiphol Airport after getting off a United Airlines flight from Chicago, where their decision to change their flight plans raised flags, officials said.
They were being held at the airport for questioning, but neither has been charged with any offense in the Netherlands, said Martijn Boelhouwer, spokesman for the national prosecutor’s office.
Edmond Messchaert, a spokesman for the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said his agency was aware of the case, but would not comment further. Dutch authorities do not release the names of suspects in criminal investigations. Boelhouwer would not confirm their nationalities or say if US authorities had requested their extradition.
However, a US law enforcement official identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi.
Al Soofi had an address in Detroit, Michigan, the official said.
Another US law enforcement official said the men had not been charged with anything in the US. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation and sensitive security issues.
Al Soofi was questioned as he went through security in Birmingham, Alabama, on his way to Chicago, one of the officials said. He told the Transportation Security Administration authorities he was carrying a lot of cash. Screeners found US$7,000 on him, but he was not breaking any law by carrying that much money.
Officials also found multiple cellphones taped together and multiple watches taped together in his checked baggage. It is not illegal, however, to carry knives or taped cellphones and watches in checked baggage.
Al Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and then on to Amsterdam, the official said. However, when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight to Amsterdam.
Al Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among US officials.
Federal Air marshals were on the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam, a law enforcement official said.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday night’s flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.
“The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves,” Kudwa said.
She would not identify the passengers.
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