9/10 memento a 'botched' clue in 9/11 puzzle http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/terrorist_ticket_RCHOL0NxyFHqgC rfc3xe0J
By BRAD HAMILTON and JOHN CRUDELE Last Updated: 7:06 AM, February 13, 2011 Posted: 1:19 AM, February 13, 2011 Comments: 23 Take a close look at the date on this unused ticket to the World Trade Center observation deck: Sept. 10, 2001. http://www.nypost.com/rw/nypost/2011/02/13/news/photos_stories/13.1n009.wtct icket1--300x300.jpg The macabre memento, purchased by Yemeni tobacco smuggler Taha "Saleh" Mutaher less than 24 hours before the Twin Towers went down, suggests that the ex-con knew about the pending 9/11 strikes, former NYPD terrorism cops say. But Mutaher, who kept the ticket folded in his wallet and had access to flight manuals owned by a relative with whom he lived in Brooklyn, was never charged with terrorist crimes or even grilled by the feds, the ex-cops say. They're furious about the lapse and want to know why nothing more was done. "We think he had information that could have been valuable," one said. "We'd like to believe that the feds scooped up guys like Mutaher and took appropriate action. Unfortunately, they didn't do a thing. They were not proactive. They were not even reactive." The former terrorism investigators -- who busted Mutaher in 2003 but were forced to hand him off to federal ATF agents -- are asking what happened to the Bay Ridge resident in light of last week's news that the FBI has been hunting for three suspects who might have helped the 9/11 plotters but got away. Mutaher is not one of the three, but drew intense police scrutiny in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. The 20-something immigrant was nabbed for running untaxed cigarettes to the city, pleaded guilty to contraband trafficking and did eight months in a federal prison in Virginia. He was ordered to pay $347,731 in restitution. Mutaher was a key player in the multimillion-dollar cigarette scheme, which got the NYPD's attention after the department hastily formed an intelligence unit following 9/11 to identify suspected local collaborators. The cops soon realized that Arabs dominated the city's tobacco bootlegging industry and they joined forces with the state's top tax investigator, Tom Stanton, who set up a fake cigarette-supply warehouse in Virginia to nail suspects in sting op erations. They learned that the smugglers sent illicit cash to Hezbollah, and they suspected Hamas and al Qaeda also got funds. The team brought in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to apply pressure on the defendants by using tough federal contraband laws. Suspicions about Mutaher were fueled by his attachment to the WTC ticket. "He didn't give a s- -t about anything else," said a member of the NYPD team. "That's all he wanted was his ticket back. His lawyer kept asking for it." Two other Yemeni nationals who lived with him were also busted, including the relative who had two flight manuals. Virginia prosecutor Dave Schiller put away Mutaher and told investigators he would be deported when released from prison in 2004, but the cops never learned what became of him. They're convinced the feds fumbled the ball. "He should have been looked at a lot more carefully," said a detective. "They should have found out everything before he was turned loose. They had no clue." Federal officials were no more forthcoming with The Post when asked about Mutaher. They claimed they could not learn his current location, immigration status or history. "I don't have any information about him," said immigration-enforcement flack Cori Bassett. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/terrorist_ticket_RCHOL0NxyFHqgC rfc3xe0J#ixzz1DsA52PKa ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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