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Man Stopped at Port of Entry With Large Cash Sums and Laptop With Nuclear Information
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ShareNovember 16, 2006 3:35 PM
A U.S. citizen of Ethiopian descent was arrested as he came into the U.S. on a flight from Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Sisayehiticha Dinssa was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after he was flagged for secondary inspection on entry to the U.S. at the Detroit Airport and was found to be carrying more than $78,000 in cash. Customs officials became suspicious of Dinssa when a narcotics dog signaled the scent of drugs on the money in his possession.
Customs officers also discovered that Dinssa was in possession of a laptop computer for which he had no power source. During an initial look at the computer, "Inspectors discovered some files that had been downloaded with information about cyanide and nuclear materials," an affidavit from an ICE agent filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit noted.
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According to two senior U.S. government officials briefed on the matter, the files appear to be beyond what someone would normally download from the Internet. According to U.S. officials, Dinssa may have been researching the materials extensively.
Dinssa had claimed he was only carrying $18,000. It is undetermined if this is an alleged smuggling case or potentially something more sinister.
According to federal law enforcement sources, U.S. intelligence agencies and counterterrorism officials have been tasked to run down any leads on Dinssa in their databases. According to the court records, when questioned about the information on his laptop, Dinssa said that he was "interested in learning about cyanide and nuclear materials."
FBI agents and investigators from the U.S. Attorney's Office are expected to obtain a search warrant and examine the hard drive of the computer to determine the nature of the computer files. The Justice Department has asked that Dinssa be held in custody until he makes an appearance Monday in federal court for a detention hearing.
Calls by ABC News to a lawyer representing Dinssa have not been returned.
Read the criminal complaint againt Dinssa.
November 16, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (25)
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All US currency circulated for any amount of time has traces of drugs on it. We have over a million active cocaine users and 8 to 10 million active pot smokers in this country,
and dogs have extraordinarily sensitive noses. I guarantee that if
you have $10K or more in used currency, your common drug dog will surely detect the drugs. That being said, drugs on currency aren't probable cause in any reasonable persons mind.
Posted by: Everett | Nov 21, 2006 9:08:53 PM
Wow, I'm amazed at how many idiots feel comfortable spewing half-baked conclusions of law and making sweeping generalizations.
Guess what, folks -- it doesn't matter whether you think a nuclear mule would "have to be paid more than $78,000," or whether you are too stupid to read that the dogs caught the scent of drugs on the cash or that he lied to Customs about the amount he was carrying -- the bottom line is that this is exactly what should be going on.
Posted by: John | Nov 21, 2006 9:24:03 PM
The problem with this is that you all agree with this, cause makes you feel safer, but it's all wrong! What you doing is supporting the increase of a police state! So everybody can be targeted as suspect ... And i agree with Dave, America is the name for the Continent, United States is just one country of it, like Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and many others ... So, what if we cleaver people from United States start calling the things by their real name ??? United States is not America! Did you all fail Geography?
Posted by: Theo | Nov 23, 2006 2:08:10 AM
The article says that the laptop had none of the 'stuff' to make it run. Who takes a lap top on a trip without connective plugs etc?
This country is just too PC. If someone has to be inconvenienced so that 9/11 doesn't happen again, so be it. If England hadn't taken a strong stance on profiling, we would have already had another tragedy. Statistics show a certain type of person is conducting terrorism. If you are one of those people and are thin-skinned, either take a course on how to strengthen your feelings or stay home.
I don't fit the bill and am singled out once in a while. It is irritable, but guess what it is for my safety and the safety of other passengers. Get a grip.
Posted by: B | Nov 27, 2006 10:43:47 AM
Dear Americans,
They are planning something--the terrorists are. I experienced a scary flight coming from Amersterdam to Detroit this fall. Believe me, something terrible is coming. There is a new type of weapon afloat and We The People need to stay focused, and report anything not right. They are here,already. That I believe, and we have been told by our Government that they are here.
They are evil and must be condemned. And we must unite. The Intelligence Committee in Congress absolutely must have great integrity, and must be a person able to defend the American People and must NOT be an adversary of George W. Bush. The adversary is TERRORISTS in all of their various organizations.
FLifeforce@aol.com
Posted by: LeAnn | Nov 28, 2006 12:00:01 AM
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