Tucson Police say cellphone purchases were suspicious, but not criminal
Aug 14, 2006 08:34 PM
Tucson Police are trying to track down two men of Middle Eastern descent who, reportedly, bought a number of cell phones within a 36-hour period over the weekend at a Tucson Sam's Club.
The incident comes on the heels of other similar incidents across the country.
The incidents have prompted terror investigations because, authorities say, those cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators.
Tucson Police issued a news Release Tuesday afternoon regarding the incident that occurred three days ago.
Tucson Police were called to Tucson's Sam's Club on Friday just before noon on a 'suspicious activity" call.
Apparently, someone saw two men purchasing disposable cell phones.
TPD Sgt. Mark Robinson said, "It was two men of Middle Eastern descent buying a qantity of cell phones, more cell phones than one would think would use for personal use."
Employees at Sam's Club told News 4 that they saw Tucson Police show up at the business.
A spokeswoman for wWal-mart who also owns Sam's Club issued this statement.
"Wal-mart stores limit the sale of prepaid phones to three phones per transaction at Wal-Mart stores and Supercenters. At our Sam's Clubs (membership clubs), we limit the sale to five per transaction. This policy is a part of our agreement with manufacturers. We continue to assist law enforcement with ongoing investigations. We are not discussing the purchases or other details pertinent to the incident. Our goal is to assist law enforcement as they conduct an investigation. It simply would not assist the investigation for us to make any comments." Sharon Weber, a Wal-Mart spokesperson
Sgt. Robinson says the men didn't break any laws.
"We know that people use these phones for criminal activity such as dealing drugs or smuggling people into the United States. Those are a couple of uses tied to these phones. I believe nationally the FBI has tied these phones to terrorism."
However, Tucson Police say right now there's nothing to tie these men to criminal activity.
Sgt Robinson said, 'We don't know if these particular indviduals were involved in any kind of criminal activity at this time. That's why it's just a suspicious activity investigation. it's not a criminal investigation.'
The incident was turned over to the FBI.
Authorities encourage citizens to report any suspicious activity.
Tucson Police say cellphone purchases were suspicious, but not criminal
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