FBI Terror Probe Expands, Intensifies

Investigation Into Alleged NYC Bomb Plot Includes Nearly All of the Bureau's U.S. Field Offices

(CBS/AP)  The investigation into alleged bomb plot targeting New York has expanded to include nearly all of the FBI's 57 field offices in the country and some overseas, CBS News has learned.

Investigators told CBS News that agents are aggressively following a steady stream of leads in the case and have essentially constructed a family tree with 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi at the center, at least 12 of his known "disciples" in a ring around him and other associates branching out from there.

Zazi, his father and Muslim religious leader Ahmad Wais Afzali were arrested over the weekend on charges they lied to the FBI but weren't charged with terrorism, and the scale and scope of the plot remains unclear. They have denied the charges against them.

Law enforcement officials said Zazi may have been plotting with others to detonate backpack bombs on New York trains in a scheme similar to the attacks on the London subway and Madrid's rail system in the last few years. Backpacks and cell phones were seized in raids on apartments Zazi visited in New York.

America's top law enforcement officer believes that threat was very serious, reported CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian.

CBS News learned Tuesday that a hunt was on to see if suspects had stored a cache of explosives somewhere in New York City. In an exclusive interview with "60 Minutes," Attorney General Eric Holder told correspondent Steve Kroft just how urgent the threat was.

"I think we've disrupted that which they've planned and it's not totally clear to us at this point what it is they had in mind, though I think it is clear that something very serious and something very organized was under way," Holder said.

Zazi had been under FBI surveillance, but the criminal complaint against him suggests NYPD officers acting without the bureau's knowledge may have blown their cover by questioning Afzali, who is an imam in the New York City borough of Queens.

"They came to ask me about your characters," Afzali told Zazi in a secretly recorded Sept. 11 telephone conversation. "They asked me about you guys."

At least one of those New York Police Department detectives, referred to in the recently unsealed criminal complaint, works for a division that operates independently from an FBI-run terrorism task force.

The complaint also suggests investigators may have tipped off Zazi, a 24-year-old Denver airport shuttle driver, by towing and searching a rental car he was using on a New York City trip that heightened fears of an attack.

The maneuver, authorities say, produced evidence of bomb-making instructions retrieved from a hard drive on Zazi's laptop.

But it also apparently didn't get by the suspect: In the phone conversation with Afzali, Zazi said the car's disappearance convinced him he was being watched.

NYPD and FBI officials have denied that the potential missteps forced their hand in a series of high-profile raids last week, prompted Zazi to abort his New York visit and caused friction between the two agencies, which work together through the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, asked Tuesday if he had any concerns about the handling of Afzali, declined comment on the investigation beyond what was in court papers, saying the probe was classified.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne insisted the NYPD and the FBI "worked closely and successfully in this case and in scores of others." He declined further comment.

There were no new arrests Tuesday in the terror probe, but sources tell CBS News that up to a dozen people continue to be closely monitored by the FBI.

In a statement, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said that while the agencies "have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to raise the security awareness of our local law enforcement partners regarding the targets and tactics of previous terrorist activity."

Afzali's attorney, Ron Kuby, has said his client had a history of giving police information as a community liaison and religious leader in his Queens neighborhood. Kuby claimed Afzali was doing their bidding by talking to Zazi and finding out what he was up to.

"My client is being blamed for an investigation botched by the authorities," Kuby said Tuesday. "It's much easier to blame some obscure Afghan imam."

The complaint, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, says NYPD detectives first visited Afzali at his home on Sept. 10.

Around that time, the public was unaware that federal authorities were tracking a suburban Denver man with possible links to al Qaeda who had driven to New York City - Zazi. The complaint says that unnamed detectives showed Afzali photos of Zazi and that Afzali admitted he recognized him.

Kuby said one of the detectives was his client's usual police contact, an investigator assigned to the police department's Intelligence Division, not the terrorism task force.

The day after police spoke to Afzali, the FBI intercepted his phone call with Zazi discussing the NYPD's inquiry. The next day, Afzali's lawyer said, his client had his first-ever contact with the FBI, when he agreed to answer questions at their Manhattan headquarters.

On Sept. 14, Afzali also agreed to a search of his home, then gave DNA samples and a written statement on Sept. 17, the attorney said.

Afzali was arrested on Sunday on charges he lied in the statement by denying that he had tipped off Zazi.

[rebelfan1829]

#1 I do not believe our law enforcement would not have gone after these guys if they didn't believe it is justified to keep us all safe. #2 We are not out of the woods, not all suspects have been found - let our brave and courageous FBI, CIA and all law enforcement do their jobs. If these guys had been left to their own will, and bombs had gone off on our transit systems, you'd then be blaming our law enforcement for not acting.

[rebelfan1829]

Thank you FBI, CIA, NYPD - and all the others involved in uncovering this threat. Your dedication keeps us safe and I apprecite you. Sure wish your hands weren't tied in how you can get information from these guys - they may have knowledge of some really bad plans.

[eyesopenwide]

Kinda reminds me of the witch hunt McCarthy hearings where everyone is suspected until they can prove they're not guilty of something, ... anything.

And the Feds, will continue this rampant desperate endeavour to find, misconstrue, or invent, even one actual terrorist to justify the continued fleecing of the American public through their "protection racket," concept strikingly similar to hunting for Emmanuel Goldstein, oops I mean Michael Moore, no, I mean Osama Bin Laden.

[username555-2009]

"weren't charged with terrorism, and the scale and scope of the plot remains unclear."
"Backpacks and cell phones were seized in raids on apartments Zazi visited in New York."
"a hunt was on to see if suspects had stored a cache of explosives somewhere in New York City"

the agencies "have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to raise the security awareness of our local law enforcement partners regarding the targets and tactics of previous terrorist activity."

Well, just from reading your story, one can clearly note that there is NO evidence and there is a rush to judgement on these men in order that the Department of Homeland Insecurity can claim "one" victory so that citizens won't realise they have been fleeced out of millions of dollars in "protection" money.

Why don't these imbeciles concentrate on the problems we do have (Economy, spiraling taxes, illegal aliens) instead of chasing a boogey-man?

[culturechang]

They aren't baffoons. They are bureacrats who appeal to whatever political priorites come down from the top.

[Ms_enza]

Raise your hand if you believe any of this stuff, and place any pulled teeth under your pillow for an instant refund.

[culturechang]

Excellent. That gets them off the trail of prostitutes and onto "Homeland Security" issues.

[G-I_Jesus]

The Three Stooges

Why is it that I get the feeling the FBI, the CIA and the NYPD is managed by bumbling buffoons?

[spiritwalk]

The Feds have made the arrests so now it is time to go out in search of the evidence of a crime.

[rebelfan1829]

I thank all the FBI,CIA and NYPD. They keep us save and I thank my lucky stars that we have people who are willing to dedicate their lives to keeping me and mine, you and yours, and our beloved USA safe. Sure do wish we had not shared our methods with the enemy, and that our brave men and women's hands weren't tied in how they can get information from these folks.