WASHINGTON Two men on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Amsterdam were questioned by Dutch authorities after U.S. officials found a cell phone taped to a Pepto Bismol bottle and a knife and box cutter in checked luggage connected with the men, a law enforcement official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, identified the men as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi. Al Soofi had a Michigan address, the official said, but it was not immediately clear where the two men were from.
ABC News, which first reported the incident Monday, said al Soofi was from Detroit and that both he and al Murisi were charged in the Netherlands with "preparation of a terrorist attack."
U.S. officials would not confirm that. Another U.S. law enforcement official who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters said federal air marshals were on board the flight from Chicago to Amsterdam.
The law enforcement official said Al Soofi was questioned as he went through security in Birmingham, Ala., on his way to Chicago. He told the Transportation Security Administration authorities he was carrying a lot of cash, the official said. Screeners found $7,000 on him, but he was not breaking any law by carrying that much money.
Al Soofi was supposed to fly from Chicago to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, and then on to Amsterdam, the official said. But when he got to Chicago, he changed his travel plans to take a direct flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. Al Murisi also changed his travel plans in Chicago to take a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday nights flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.
"The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves," Kudwa said. She would not identify the two passengers.
It is not illegal to carry knives in checked baggage.
Residents of a southwest Detroit neighborhood where several addresses were found for variations of the name Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi declined to give their names to The Associated Press Monday evening, though at least two indicated FBI agents had visited the area.
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Associated Press writer Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
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