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Boston Nuclear Attack Hoax Suspect in U.S. Custody
A Mexican man charged with inventing a story about a terrorist plot to attack Boston with a nuclear weapon has been extradited to the United States from Mexico, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Oct. 18, 2005). Jose Ernesto Beltran Quinonez was turned over to U.S. law enforcement officials Sunday in Mexico City. Yesterday he pleaded not guilty to federal charges of passing on false information about a terrorist attack and lying to U.S. authorities. If convicted, he could serve up to eight years in prison. Quinonez’s story led to warnings, an investigation, discussions with the president regarding the matter and a manhunt for Chinese citizens supposedly involved in the plot. “What a huge waste of resources,” said Dan Dzwilewski, head of the FBI’s San Diego office. “It took hundreds and hundreds of man-hours here and across the country. The threat that he laid out had to be taken seriously until it was validated or discounted.” Federal authorities maintain that Quinonez on Jan. 17, 2005, told California Highway Patrol dispatchers that nuclear warheads would be smuggled from Mexico to California. He said that he had moved two Iraqis and four Chinese chemists into the United States and that they were heading to Boston. Quinonez said he would toss documents over the border fence to prove his claims. U.S. authorities found a package with travel documents belonging to Chinese citizens and carrying Beltran’s fingerprints, AP reported (Associated Press/WFSB, Feb. 7).
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