FBI, ATF Told Of Three Tons Of Stolen Ammonium Nitrate...

FBI, ATF Told Of Three Tons Of Stolen Ammonium Nitrate; Volatile Fertilizer Often Used In al Qaeda Truck Bombs

By J.M. Berger

Nearly three tons of stolen ammonium nitrate are unaccounted for in North Carolina, even as the U.S. braces itself against a possible al Qaeda truck bomb attack.

Mixed with fuel oil, ammonium nitrate is a favored ingredient used in al Qaeda truck bombs. Nearly a month after the theft was reported, 59 bags of the volatile fertilizer are still unaccounted for.

Each bag contains 50 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Dozens of similar 50-pound bags were purchased by Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh for use in the Oklahoma City bombing.

The unsolved theft from a North Carolina facility looms large as local and federal authorities responded to a Department of Homeland Security bulletin warning that al Qaeda may be planning a truck bomb attack against U.S. financial centers in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Five thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate were stolen from a Royster-Clark fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., in early July, according to the Winston Salem Police Department. The theft consisted of 100 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate, according to the Winston Salem police department.

Lt. Connie Southern of the Wintston-Salem Police told INTELWIRE Monday that police had recovered 41 of the stolen bags, leaving 2,950 pounds of ammonium nitrate still missing.

Winston-Salem police have no leads in the case, Southern said, and there were no clues to indicate who might have stolen the material. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, which first reported the theft on July 9, most of the recovered bags were found in vacant houses in the area and in an area home.

Southern said the investigation was expanded to include the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. But a source at the ATF who asked not to be named would say only that the bureau was aware of the theft. The ATF source could provide no information on the status of the investigation nor any details of the case.

A call to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. was referred to the FBI’s Charlotte field office. A call to the Charlotte office had not been returned at the time of this update. A call to the Department of Homeland Security was not returned at the time of this update. INTELWIRE could not confirm whether any active investigation of the case continues at the federal level.

Winston-Salem police have not been informed of any change in the status of the investigation since Sunday’s terror alert from the Department of Homeland Security, according to Southern. The management of Royster-Clark is cooperating with the investigation, she said.

On Sunday, DHS director Tom Ridge announced an "orange alert" for specific financial institutions in New York City, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The report said the alert was based on extremely specific intelligence, which indicated that al Qaeda may use truck or car bombs to attack specific buildings.

Ammonium nitrate, a commercial fertilizer, is a favored component for truck bombs of the type mentioned in Sunday’s terror alert announcement by the Department of Homeland Security. It can be purchased with few controls at a wide variety of outlets, but large scale purchases can arouse suspicion.

Police recently discovered a half-ton cache of ammonium nitrate being stored by suspected al Qaeda terrorists in London. Several British news outlets reported today that an attack in the U.K. was indicated in the same intelligence that prompted the U.S. alert.

Ramzi Yousef used another commercial fertilizer, urea nitrate, in a truck bomb attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. Some accounts have suggested that he used ammonium nitrate as part of the detonating mechanism.

Timothy McVeigh destroyed the Alfred E. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City with a bomb believed to have used five thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate, mixed with a volatile racing fuel. (related story)

The 2002 Bali nightclub bombing is believed to have used ammonium nitrate as its main component. The fertilizer was also used in an attack on the U.S. embassy in Karachi in 2002. al Qaeda is believed to be linked to both those attacks. Authorities have recovered large caches of the fertilizer from suspected terrorists in various southeast Asian locations since the Bali attack. Several tons of ammonium nitrate were recently reported stolen in Australia.

Other reports of explosives theft have surfaced around the country. In San Mateo County, northern California, more than 200 pounds of explosives were stolen from a government facility. The stolen explosives included "C4, grenades, grenade simulators, signal flares, detonation cord, TNT, fuses and blasting caps," according to the Tri-Valley Herald newspaper. Four suspects have been indicted, and "most" of the explosives have been recovered.

According to the Juneau Empire Online, "an unknown quantity of safety fuse and one-pound canisters of Pentex cast boosters, a high explosive," were stolen from an Alaskan company in July.

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