March 19, 2003: Having justified its actions by Secretary of State Colin Powell that Iraq was in violation of resolution 1441, the United States, along with British Armed Forces, attacked Iraq under the U.S. codename Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Jonah was fascinated by the events unfolding in the Middle East and in the United Nations. He had a television installed in his office at Ceballo Landscaping Corporation and didn’t leave the office during the day, not even going to lunch, which surprised his employees. As he watched presentation after presentation from the United States to the United Nations he could only wonder. Why is this president so obsessed with Iraq? All of the Middle East knows that Saddam Hussein would never allow al-Qaeda to operate in his country, or any fanatical Islamic group to gain control over his population.
The operatives at Cooper Farms were also captivated by the events. They watched Al Jazeera Television broadcasting from Doha, Qatar on the satellite system. It was strictly forbidden for any television broadcasts to be viewed before five in the afternoon to ensure that any person not employed by Cooper Farms was off the property. All of the operatives had been lectured on being diligent with security and to be suspicious of anyone on the property.
Cooper Farms
March 21, 2003: Charlotte Brigs and Tom Trent, the Palm Beach County Health Inspectors, were returning to their offices in West Palm Beach. Tom noticed they were close to the Cooper Farms entrance. “Charlotte, we’re supposed to come back and inspect Cooper Farms on Monday. Why not do it now?”
Charlotte looked at her watch. “It’s late but this should be quick. We haven’t had a violation in years. Let’s get it over with.”
Tom drove up to the main entrance. “There’s no one around. I’ll check the gate.” He exited the county vehicle and pushed against the heavy metal gate. “It’s unlocked,” he shouted pushing the gate open.
The operatives had just completed their day and were watching the Arabic-language broadcast of the events in Iraq. Many operatives from Iran thought that the Iraq Republican Guard was up to the battle with the United States forces since Iran, having fought an eight-year war with Iraq, couldn’t defeat the Republican Guard. Most of the Syrians had a pessimistic view of the fighting, referring back to the first Gulf War and how easily the Iraq elite troops were defeated. Though there was much shouting between the two groups, it was not a hostile environment. Although many of these debates would rage between them, overall they were still one unit with one purpose. They were there to serve Allāh and Islam, and to defeat their common enemies, the United States and Israel.
Tom and Charlotte opened the door to the recreation hall. Before them a heated argument was waging among the operatives in Arabic.
Tom grabbed Charlotte’s arm. “That’s Arabic not Spanish. Lets go.”
The shouting in Arabic and English of offensive remarks about America and the U.S. military was quickly silenced when Sergeant Navarro, seeing the two, pointed his finger at them and in Arabic shouted, “Kafir. (Unbeliever.)”
The entire group turned in their direction.
Tom and Charlotte ran for their vehicle, but before they could open the doors they were jumped from behind and wrestled to the ground facedown. Within seconds they were struck on the back of their head with nightsticks and rendered unconscious.
The sergeant took command. “Get on latex gloves and place both bodies in the SUV. We’ll drive them to the South Florida Water Management District access road.”
The road was on the opposite side of a canal that separated Cooper Farms from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. The operatives had switched the lock on the gate to the road several months before. The South Florida Water Management District personnel had tried to access the road. Once they found their keys wouldn’t open the gate they just left and went to their next scheduled work assignment. It was typical government employee mentality and the plan to switch the lock was hatched by Jonah when he observed the government personnel fishing in the canal instead of performing their job.
Jonah said at the time, “We may need this access road for emergencies and if we change the lock, they’ll simply move to another location instead of taking care of the problem.” His anticipation was prophetic!
Sergeant Navarro, with two additional operatives, drove a quarter of a mile on the access road into the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to where alligators had been previously fed by the operatives. Hearing the approaching vehicle, the alligators, associating an engine whine with food, moved towards the canal bank.
The sergeant got out of the vehicle giving orders, “Take the man and place him in the driver’s seat. Put her in the front passenger seat and lock the seat belts around them. Leave down all the windows.”
Sergeant Navarro, after inspecting the bodies, placed the transmission in drive. He watched the vehicle plunge over the side of the bank into the canal below.
The alligators near the water’s edge scattered as the vehicle sank into the murky depth. The sergeant got close to the bank to watch.
“Can you see anything?” asked one of the operatives.
“It’s kind of muddy, but a large gator is near the passenger side. He just went into a death roll. Now he’s coming to the surface, and that’s a head he’s got,” shouted the operative.
The alligator had ripped Charlotte’s head from her body. Being only unconscious before the attack, her heart was still pumping and blood gushed out of the severed arteries. The blood in the water brought on a feeding frenzy. The larger alligators, too big to fit into the windows, lay back letting the smaller ones rip off the body parts and then stealing the prize from them.
The trio watched in fascination at the turmoil in the water above the sunken vehicle and could only imagine the carnage below.
“We better get the hell out of here before we’re part of the menu,” shouted the sergeant. The trio hiked back to the main road. Arriving at the gate to the access road they made sure it was left wide open.
Back at the farm other operatives were driving tractors over the dirt road leading back to the housing complex.
“Make sure all traces of tire marks by the SUV are obliterated,” barked Sergeant Navarro. “I want the entire area around where the attack took place combed to make sure there are no telltale signs that the two inspectors have been on the site.”
The MetroMax South telephone rang in the office at the Lieberman residence. Howard picked it up.
“Sir, this is Sergeant Navarro. We had a problem at the farm. The men had to take action against the intruders.” He then went into the details of the incident.
“You’re sure they have covered all their tracks and cleaned the place up?”
“I personally took care of the bodies and I’ve instructed everyone to say they never saw the inspectors, if interviewed. I’m satisfied their disappearance can’t be traced to Cooper Farms.”
Howard stated emphatically, “Make sure everyone is completely coached if authorities start questioning the operatives. Put the lock on the front gate and get a spare in case we have a problem in the future.” Howard hung up the phone with an uneasy feeling in his gut. I’m glad that Michelle is still in Washington, D.C. and I don’t have to explain the phone call.
March 25, 2003: When the two inspectors hadn’t reported in on Tuesday and couldn’t be reached on their cell phones, the office called their last known location in South Palm Beach County. They were told the inspectors had left around five o’clock Friday afternoon. A worried supervisor called the county sheriff’s office to report the pair missing.
April 11, 2003: A South Florida Water Management District maintenance crew arrived at the access road. Finding the gate open, they were confused. They had brought bolt cutters and a new lock, having a report that the road was not accessible. The vegetation mower was unloaded off the flat bed truck.
The operator began cutting along the canal bank. Damn, how did I get stuck with this assignment? This canal bank hasn’t been cut for months. He reached t
he area where the county vehicle was submerged. That’s odd. The gators normally scatter when they hear the mower.
Spotting something in the water, the mower operator radioed the flatbed truck operator. “You need to get here fast. I thought I saw the back end of a vehicle in the water.”
The driver scurried out of the cab and headed to the location. When he arrived he saw the mower operator hitting the snout of a large alligator with a long branch, keeping it off the bank.
“You know you can get fined for tormenting one of those,” the truck driver remarked laughing.
“The damn thing came halfway up the bank at me. I’ve never seen such behavior by a wild gator.” The mower operator peered into the water. “I thought I saw something, but now I’m not sure.”
The two continued to look into the murky water.
The mower operator climbed up on the mowing machine. “You can see it from up here. Come take a look.”
The truck driver climbed up on the mower. “I can see it now. It looks like a rear window of an SUV. I better radio the supervisor.”
1:15 P.M.: A tow truck and several Palm Beach County Sheriff officers were viewing the scene. They had also called in the county’s scuba diver to take a look and help secure the chains around the vehicle.
The reluctant diver set down his air tanks. “I’m not going in there with all those gators.”
2:45 P.M.: The contracted wild game trapper arrived. He viewed the activity in the water and remarked, “It’s as if these gators have been fed, cause they’re not afraid of humans. I can’t trap them all. There must be at least fifteen. Maybe if we fire shotgun blasts over their heads they’ll scatter.”
On the other side of the canal bank three of the Cooper Farms personnel dressed in typical migrant worker garb were watching the scene unfold. They had been sent there to observe the incident, but would be in the direct aim of the sheriff deputies. The officers shouted for the three men to move, but they just stood there.
Finally one of the deputies who spoke Spanish yelled at them. “Les vamos a disparar con las escopetas. Salgan de ahi y vayanse al infierno. (We’re going to fire shotguns. Get the hell out of there.)”
The three men finally moved down the canal but still were in viewing range, smiling and laughing that they had made the deputies think they were Hispanic.
The deputies had to fire twenty rounds before the alligators dispersed to a safe enough distance for the diver to go into the canal. Deputies were stationed on each side of the dive site, keeping an eye on the alligators with orders to shoot if one approached.
The diver nervously went in to take a look. It was only a short time before he came back up. “There are a couple of bodies inside. That is, what’s left of them. It’s a county vehicle. Probably the one reported missing. Throw me a rope.”
Another twenty minutes passed before the vehicle was pulled from the canal. The first deputy looked into the vehicle then turned away. “The bodies have been ripped apart by the gators.” He glanced inside. “Most of the upper torsos are missing.”
Fish had picked apart what the alligators couldn’t reach. It was an eerie sight to see the lower torsos still strapped in with seatbelts, legs and feet still intact.
The diver took off his gear. “I’m certainly not looking for skeletal remains with that bunch of gators around.”
Investigators spent hours checking the vehicle and contents searching for foul play, but couldn’t find a shred of evidence, especially since the heads were missing.
The investigators pieced together a timeline from Tom and Charlotte’s last known inspection but couldn’t account for their turn on to the access road. After interviewing many of the Health Department employees and supervisors, they speculated that the pair might have been romantically linked. The final report from the sheriff was to list the incident as an accident.
Howard and Jonah kept a close watch on the events by reading newspapers and watching local televisions reports. They were quite satisfied when the final police account was released. Much stricter security measures were put in place at Cooper Farms and the operatives, after having such a close call, were acutely aware of any activities on the site.
The Phoenix Rising
The three cell members were aboard the yacht for a meeting.
“It looks as if the United States declared victory in Iraq on May 4th,” commented Jonah. “Bush’s grand standing on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was quite a publicity stunt and of course the American people fell for it.”
Jonah spoke pragmatically, “Termites fell the mighty oak. The time will come when America will see that all they have done is unleashed the wrath of Islam upon them. They have facilitated this hatred, but it plays directly into our plans. The United States had just toppled the one regime in the Middle East that prevented the Islamic Revolution from spreading into Iraq.”
The always-worried Daniel lamented, “I’m afraid the operatives will become impatient unless we act soon.”
Jonah glared at Daniel. “You worry needlessly! Sergeant Navarro tells me the operatives are more determined than ever to strike a blow for Islam and, even if it takes several years, they’re willing to wait.”
“Any word from Abu Abbas?” Daniel asked.
“I’ve called him three times since January and still no word from the Amir. I’m afraid to make too many phone calls and arouse suspicion. I’ll only call once every three months to lessen detection.”
The three decided that patience was most important and they would meet at least once a week on board The Phoenix Rising.
NSA
The National Security Agency’s Miami tracking station had flagged a conversation between Lee Ruby Senior and Abu Abbas after the second call in February. The international call didn’t have any mention of terrorism or key words like Jihad or revenge, but it came from a pay phone and the taped message only had brief comments. The receiving location for the call and the short cryptic message raised a red flag.
“Abu Abbas, it’s Lee Ruby, Senior. Has management made any decision on the merchandise disposal?”
“Nothing at this time, keep in touch.”
The NSA could find no one in Florida with the name Lee Ruby Senior. The call was traced to a business in San Andrés, Colombia that dealt with merchandise from the Middle East. The proprietor of the shop was later identified as Abu Abbas Ismail from Antelias, Lebanon, a small town located five kilometers north of Beirut.
The NSA Intelligence Analyst reviewing the information wasn’t sure it was a terrorist connection or a drug ring. The call coming from a payphone was enough to make the NSA contact the Colombian Governments security agency Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad in Bogotá. The DAS in turn contacted its offices in San Andrés to follow up on Abu Abbas Ismail for possible drug trafficking or terrorist activity.
An exhaustive investigation took place over the next several months including obtaining a search warrant for Abu Abbas’s business and home in October 2003. Abu Abbas was interrogated for hours, but the DAS found nothing. Late in November 2003, the report came back to the NSA of negative results.
The Intelligence Analyst reviewed the information with his supervisor. “It’s odd that the calls continue, but at a reduced frequency and the conversation is almost identical, with no cordial greetings or any additional business discussions.” He then marked the file and the San Andrés phone number for continued monitoring.
Abu Abbas was very upset over the DAS investigation. I have no way to contact Lee Ruby, Senior. There’ve been no calls in two months. I just have to wait until contacted again.
San Andrés
Jonah and the family over the next few years made their annual trip to Bogotá and then on to the island in December 2003. Almost immediately after arriving in San Andrés, Jonah left the room claiming he needed to get pesos from a bank ATM. Arriving at Abu Abbas’s store, Jonah disrupted the entire afternoon for him.
Abu Abbas motioned him to the back room. “You
shouldn’t have come here so early. I’ve too many customers.”
“I’ll only stay a minute. Tell me if you had any word on the disposal of merchandise?”
Abu Abbas nervously replied, “None, but I’ve been investigated by the DAS who went through the store and my home looking for any evidence of illegal activity. Of course they found nothing and it’s been business as usual.”
Jonah was completely caught off guard. “I’ll give you an alternative way to communicate to me.” He departed immediately.
Jonah found his way to one of the island’s several Internet cafés. I hate using a public computer, but it is the only access I have to the Internet on the island.
Online, Jonah went to an ISP email website and setup a phony email account with the ID as rubysanandres and the password as phoenix83. Once registered he set up another email ID as stellabogota, again using the same password phoenix83. He logged on to the stellabogota account and sent a test email to rubysanandres and repeated the process in reverse.
Both emails are working. I’ll now sign up for a Colombian Internet dating service and register both separate emails under men looking for women and women looking for men. Satisfied that the emails and the dating service were operational, he left the Internet café and returned to Abu Abbas’s shop.
Jonah motioned to Abu Abbas to retreat to the backroom. “Write this information down and then destroy it after you’ve memorized it. Here is your email ID and password to use. You will be contacted by rubysanandres. Communicate only in Spanish and through the dating service chat room. You must not use your home or work computer for this, only a public computer, and make sure you delete the history and temporary Internet files when you’re done.”
Abu Abbas listened intently. “I understand and will await your contact.”
The Third Cell Page 28