Sources say nuke/cyanide files on arrestee’s laptop aren’t the usual Internet fare

posted at 4:51 pm on November 16, 2006 by Allahpundit

Like the boss says, “Could be something. Could be nothing.” Personally, I never travel without at least $75,000 in cash.

Sisayehiticha Dinssa was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after he was flagged for secondary inspection on entry to the U.S. at the Detroit Airport and was found to be carrying more than $78,000 in cash. Customs officials became suspicious of Dinssa when a narcotics dog signaled the scent of drugs on the money in his possession.

Customs officers also discovered that Dinssa was in possession of a laptop computer for which he had no power source. During an initial look at the computer, “Inspectors discovered some files that had been downloaded with information about cyanide and nuclear materials,” an affidavit from an ICE agent filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit noted.

According to two senior U.S. government officials briefed on the matter, the files appear to be beyond what someone would normally download from the Internet. According to U.S. officials, Dinssa may have been researching the materials extensively.

Two exit questions for this one. First, what sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet? And second, for our nutroots readers, from which domestic triumph of progressive politics has this fictitious threat been concocted to distract?

Update: See-Dubya thought it was drug smuggling. He doesn’t think so anymore.

Tags:

Blowback

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

Trackbacks/Pings

Trackback URL

Comments

Aren’t the usual fare for whom?

bloggless on November 16, 2006 at 4:56 PM

I question the timing.

JasonG on November 16, 2006 at 4:59 PM

I find it interesting that they noted he had no power source for the laptop, I am imagining that the person he was bringing it to had that perhaps? So once again,the question is why did this have to be announced ? Getting him to turn on the others in the chain before they could skedaddle seems to me to be priority one,but I guess if you don’t think these people even exist or if they did they should not be harassed then you will question the timing of course.

bbz123 on November 16, 2006 at 5:00 PM

“Could be something. Could be nothing.”

Oh, it’s something.

there it is on November 16, 2006 at 5:00 PM

Not a slag on you Jason,BTW.

bbz123 on November 16, 2006 at 5:02 PM

Is this Sisayehiticha sanskrit for stupid?

As far as no battery he probably thought Sony was going to burn up his portfolio of fun profit making ideas.

Who…who?….travels with $75k in cash???? That’s a lot of those little whiskey bottles from the stewardess.

Limerick on November 16, 2006 at 5:08 PM

My bad for emailing this AP, I had even seen MM’s post, but skimmed over it because the post title (“The bipartisan CAIR congress”) seemed like something depressing that I’d rather read about later.

Anyway, this is probably your best paragraph I’ve read all day:

Two exit questions for this one. First, what sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet? And second, for our nutroots readers, from which domestic triumph of progressive politics has this fictitious threat been concocted to distract?

The evil genius lives!

(A bag of weed, a signed copy of F911, and a prayer mat to the first liberal who claims it was to take away from Pelosi officially taking the speaker position)

RightWinged on November 16, 2006 at 5:09 PM

I gotta get a dog that can smell money!

As for keeping this secret, forget it. It is time to reveal every single moron we catch, so we can begin to appreciate the scope of the threat.

The problem is not that this guy could lead us to others. It is likely that they are already being watched. It is time to round them up and stop playing around.

Crack down on MS-13, Ku Klux Klan, Nation of Islam, CAIR, Imams, etc. The wrenching spectacle would bring cries of profiling and rights abuse – at first. When hundreds are arrested we would eventually have to recognize that they exist.

If the UK has 1600 (I question how many more they minimize), how many are here – the Big Satan.

Agrippa2k on November 16, 2006 at 5:12 PM

Not only was he travelling with a ridiculous amount of cash but he was unemployed so how did he obtain the money?

Josephine on November 16, 2006 at 5:15 PM

Just think about how many didn’t get stopped.

Do they already have the parts here and he was carrying the assembly instructions?

Don’t mean to alarm you but …

BobK on November 16, 2006 at 5:15 PM

Not a slag on you Jason,BTW.

It’s cool. I understand that you rightwingneoconfacists hate anybody who speaks truth to power!

But, seriously, like Allah said; what sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet? Could I have plans to a nyooculer bomb on my computer? Could it be a nyooculer bomb? ZOMG!

JasonG on November 16, 2006 at 5:21 PM

And second, for our nutroots readers, from which domestic triumph of progressive politics has this fictitious threat been concocted to distract?

I’ll have a go at it: It was to distract from the defeat of Murtha in today’s vote, just as the London plot was to distract from Lamont’s primary victory.

Rove has become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Coyote D. on November 16, 2006 at 5:25 PM

Interesting situation… a guy’s arrested at the Detroit airport (not far from Dearborn and its high Muslim population) trying to sneak out a large sum of money (drug money) and a laptop (with details on cyanide and nuclear materials).

Time for Jack Bauer?

Don’t worry, Ms. Nancy going to get Sisayehiticha (AKA. Sasquatch) release because searching Muslims is illegal.

gmaninatl on November 16, 2006 at 5:28 PM

No, grmanital. Not out.

In.

see-dubya on November 16, 2006 at 5:34 PM

And second, for our nutroots readers, from which domestic triumph of progressive politics has this fictitious threat been concocted to distract?

This isn’t meant to distract from anything – it’s just institutionalized anti-Muslim bigotry. Where’s the threat? He had money and a computer with information on it. So? I’ve got money and a computer with access to information on cyanide and nuclear materials. Does that mean I’m a terrorist? Hardly.

Hey, that wasn’t so bad for nutroots rationale, was it? I almost believed it myself for a moment…

Enrique on November 16, 2006 at 5:38 PM

Don’t you people know?

THERE ARE NO TERRORISTS!

An academic writing in a leading journal has said so, so it must be true:

A fully credible explanation for the fact that the United States has suffered no terrorist attacks since 9/11 is that the threat posed by homegrown or imported terrorists — like that presented by Japanese Americans during World War II or by American Communists after it — has been massively exaggerated.

Lehuster on November 16, 2006 at 5:39 PM

I gotta get a dog that can smell money! — Agrippa2k

…cool…cost you $75,000….

…actually, Officer Pooch was sniffing *DRUGS*, not money…which I’m sure is a welcome break from the places dogs usually stick their noses.

Puritan1648 on November 16, 2006 at 5:41 PM

Second thought

He is a Chemistry student who decided to visit relatives near Detroit to pick up his power cord. The cash was just his tuition.

See, it is all explained.

BobK on November 16, 2006 at 5:48 PM

IT’S TO DISTRACT FROM THE PROBLEM OF GLOBAL WARMING!!! YOU PEOPLE JUST DON’T GET IT!!!

Troy Rasmussen on November 16, 2006 at 5:51 PM

The guy was Ethiopian-”American”, which means there is a 50/50 chance that he is Muslim. Given that Coptic Christians are usually not interested in cyanide or nuclear weapons, I would guess he is Muslim.

And he is very interested in cyanide and nuclear weapons and has downloaded info onto his computer that he is bringing into the U.S. Furthermore, he is carrying 75,000 dollars in cash and is unemployed.

We really need to revamp our immigration laws. There are so many Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and other people around the world professing peaceful creeds. So why do we need to import more anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism by importing Muslims into our country?

januarius on November 16, 2006 at 5:53 PM

One more thing:

Sisayehiticha Dinssa was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after he was flagged for secondary inspection on entry to the U.S. at the Detroit Airport and was found to be carrying more than $78,000 in cash.

Thank God he was “flagged for secondary inspection.” How many are not in the name of political correctness?

januarius on November 16, 2006 at 6:00 PM

Personally, I never travel without at least $75,000 in cash.

You see, some kind-hearted American formed a partnership with Dinssa so that they could get the trapped funds out of Nigeria…

Lehuster on November 16, 2006 at 6:04 PM

You see, some kind-hearted American formed a partnership with Dinssa so that they could get the trapped funds out of Nigeria…

That’s sooooo pre-Summer 2006. It’s Lebanon, now.

Editor on November 16, 2006 at 6:05 PM

Thank God he was “flagged for secondary inspection.” How many are not in the name of political correctness?

januarius on November 16, 2006 at 6:00 PM

You’re clearly a racist januarius

RightWinged on November 16, 2006 at 6:05 PM

When first asked, this guy lied and claimed like $18,000 in cash. Whooops. Under Pelooser law, he would have been let go, or never even asked. It would be illegal, right?

shooter on November 16, 2006 at 6:09 PM

First, what sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet?

Just a unit on nuclear reactions for his home-schooled kid’s chemistry class. You know what freaks those home-schoolers are.

/nyuk nyuk nyuk

Radish on November 16, 2006 at 6:19 PM

from which domestic triumph of progressive politics has this fictitious threat been concocted to distract?

Ehh… I give up. Tell me.

I say deploy the dogs everywhere. They don’t single people out because of their surname or the color of their skin.

Constantine on November 16, 2006 at 6:21 PM

By the way has anyone seen this article? I was researching CAIR to see if they had anything on this guy being arrested in Detroit.

Instead I found on their website an article from the Washington times that they were linking to, boastfully.

Did you know that Muslims went for Webb 92% versus 8% for Allen, and that 50,000 self-identified Muslims voted? CAIR with its get out the vote effort single-handedly gave America a Democratic controlled Senate. I’m sure they are going to want something in return.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20061114-121054-5433r.htm

januarius on November 16, 2006 at 6:23 PM

Kinda makes me wax nostalgic for the good old days ‘comming into Los Angeleez bringin in a couple a keez’

sonnyspats1 on November 16, 2006 at 6:43 PM

CAIR with its get out the vote effort single-handedly gave America a Democratic controlled Senate. I’m sure they are going to want something in return.

I’m sure that the Dems will send some extra pork to those districts.

rw on November 16, 2006 at 6:46 PM

Who…who?….travels with $75k in cash???? That’s a lot of those little whiskey bottles from the stewardess.

Limerick on November 16, 2006 at 5:08 PM

Well, you do have to spring for the sandwich and pillow now.
New toothpaste and other health and beauty aids too, since the TSA takes them away these days.

BacaDog on November 16, 2006 at 6:51 PM

Could he have been testing probing the water system for a Christmas surpirse?

Zorro on November 16, 2006 at 6:57 PM

Could he have been probing the system for a Christmas surpirse?

It’s always possible but useless to speculate without anything further to go on. No one should be surprised at the idea of AQ running tests on the system to see what they can get away with. Of course, they’d likely be testing much more than just the response at the Customs counter. E.g., What is the political response? With the new Democratic majority, has security at the checkpoints been reduced? With they be able to play the Racism card more effectively now? Will there be additional pressure against profiling? There’s lots AQ could learn by sending a few folks across with a wad of cash and a laptop.

jasnell on November 16, 2006 at 7:30 PM

let’s see…………

he was traveling from outside of the U.S. from a Muslim dominated nation to the Caliphate of Detroit (which is, of course near Dearbornistan)…………

with $75,000.00+/- in spare cash for emergencies (perhaps for those such as he would have caused?)……..

and a laptop with, shall we say, unique recipies for non-food related products…….

and the authorities thought it was drugs????????

not bad, but the explanations are, shall we further say…..lame.

Chances are, he was, and will be, after he is released, (after all, who wants the lawsuit for illegal detainment and/or racism?) up to no good.

The real miracle, to me is that he even got any attention in that part of the country. From what I hear, he should have pretty much blended right in.

However,

The evil genius lives!

(A bag of weed, a signed copy of F911, and a prayer mat to the first liberal who claims it was to take away from Pelosi officially taking the speaker position)

RightWinged on November 16, 2006 at 5:09 PM

While this is no less than classic, I fear that you won’t get any takers on that one.

After all, everyone knows that it would have been to take away from Murtha not getting the leadership spot that he was “robbed” of…..

right?

just a thought in jest.

Emmett J. on November 16, 2006 at 8:24 PM

Profiling dogs, that’s what we need.

I say deploy the dogs everywhere. They don’t single people out because of their surname or the color of their skin.

Implying any other effort by PEOPLE instead of dogs is COLORED by their surname or the color of their skin? Are you insinuating that our enforcement folks (lame as they may be under current circumstances) are no better than dogs?

I find your racist assumptions offensive, at best. Typical.

hillbillyjim on November 16, 2006 at 8:43 PM

Two exit questions for this one. First, what sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet?

Simple, anyone who ever looked at a webpage with nuclear information such as diagrams, specs, etc. You probably have. And here’s cyanide from World War 2 holocaust history.

You don’t need to “right-click, save as” to “download” something… how do you think a webpage works?

All the info is stored on the hard drive in your computer in a temporary file.

Christoph on November 16, 2006 at 8:43 PM

Here is a little bit more info:

Dinssa, described in court papers as unemployed, told agents he had spent the previous months in Nairobi and had tried to start a taxi business, Palmore said. Dinssa was traveling through Amsterdam and Detroit on his way to Phoenix, Palmore said. “He wasn’t very forthcoming.”

Dinssa had been flagged by Customs and Border Protection inspectors for further screening after agents received information from authorities abroad that Dinssa had been “acting very strangely,” Palmore said.

Inspectors found $78,883 on Dinssa and in his luggage — $60,000 more than Dinssa reported carrying when questioned by Customs agents, Keen wrote. A drug-sniffing dog smelled narcotics on the money, Keen added. No drugs were found, Palmore said.

Inspectors examined Dinssa’s computer after they noticed he did not have a power cord for it, which they considered unusual, Keen wrote. Inspectors found downloaded files about cyanide and nuclear materials, Keen wrote.

“When questioned about the materials on his laptop, Dinssa stated that he was interested in learning about cyanide and nuclear materials,” Keen wrote.

“There are a lot of missing pieces to the puzzle,” Palmore said.

Topsecretk9 on November 16, 2006 at 8:44 PM

Oh, and it stays there for virtually ever unless you run several military grade encryption algorithms over them each time you delete them (or over the cluster areas they are stored at, if you know where those are).

And to do it with a high level of certainty such that law enforcement couldn’t find them… takes… weeks not days for a large hard drive.

Christoph on November 16, 2006 at 8:45 PM

Simple, anyone who ever looked at a webpage with nuclear information such as diagrams, specs, etc. You probably have. And here’s cyanide from World War 2 holocaust history.

That’s true, but when you consider:

…Anti-Taliban leaders in Kandahar revealed that the uranium and other materials, including cyanide, had been discovered in a tunnel complex beneath the former base near the city’s airport. The find was confirmed by American officials…

…The cache included low-grade uranium 238, which could be used to make a so-called “dirty bomb” if wrapped around a conventional explosive. It would spread radiation over a large area.

From wayback and this:

Dinssa had been flagged by Customs and Border Protection inspectors for further screening after agents received information from authorities abroad that Dinssa had been “acting very strangely,” Palmore said.

I think it’s not the usual kinds of files found stored on harddrives and certainly warrants a thorough investigation, IMHO.

Topsecretk9 on November 16, 2006 at 8:50 PM

Oh no – didn’t President Pelosi say that it should be illegal to harrass our Muslim friends? Maybe we should let this guy loose and sentence him to life in SF. THe SF lifestyle should be torture for any good jihadist.

iam7545 on November 16, 2006 at 8:52 PM

I think it’s not the usual kinds of files found stored on harddrives and certainly warrants a thorough investigation, IMHO.

Of course, Topsecretk9, I’m just pointing out that it’s normal to download certain info on nuclear weopans and cyanide — everyone who’s reading this web page has info about nuclear weopans downloaded on their computer (your post, as an example).

I’m just saying the statement that…

“these aren’t “sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet”

… makes total sense, especially since Allahpundit has “normal” files about cyanide and nuclear materials downloaded from the Internet on his hard drive right now!

Christoph on November 16, 2006 at 8:54 PM

… makes total sense, especially since Allahpundit has “normal” files about cyanide and nuclear materials downloaded from the Internet on his hard drive right now!

Christoph

You are saying that the information downloaded received the red flag because it went beyond the idle curiosity category?

Topsecretk9 on November 16, 2006 at 9:04 PM

Here is a photo of Sisayehiticha Dinssa.

Topsecretk9 on November 16, 2006 at 9:11 PM

Cristoph: I think you were joking about the files sticking around?

Usually fully deleting the files and defragmenting completely blasts away any trace of them. And if there is anything left it will not be intelligible. Especially with encrypted data, which is often cross-related.

I mean, crap. You could just write 0′s to the whole drive (format it). Not gonna be 100%, but it will take some kind of clairvoyant to figure out what used to be on there.

RiverCocytus on November 16, 2006 at 9:14 PM

Maybe we should let this guy loose and sentence him to life in SF. THe SF lifestyle should be torture for any good jihadist.

SF … the new Abu Ghraib? Would make San Fran Nan the new General Janis? Might be worth it if it could her demoted!

IrishEyes on November 16, 2006 at 9:15 PM

Emmett J., yeah I actually thought of the Murtha angle as I was typing that, but I couldn’t help myself… I had to throw the little joke out there anyway.

RightWinged on November 16, 2006 at 9:23 PM

RiverCocytus:

Cristoph: I think you were joking about the files sticking around?

Usually fully deleting the files and defragmenting completely blasts away any trace of them. And if there is anything left it will not be intelligible. Especially with encrypted data, which is often cross-related.

I mean, crap. You could just write 0’s to the whole drive (format it). Not gonna be 100%, but it will take some kind of clairvoyant to figure out what used to be on there.

Every single part of your post is wrong.

Christoph on November 16, 2006 at 9:26 PM

I mean, crap. You could just write 0’s to the whole drive (format it). Not gonna be 100%, but it will take some kind of clairvoyant to figure out what used to be on there.

Heh… it’s just a wee bit more complicated than that. Which is to say, it’s a whole lot more complicated than that.

jasnell on November 16, 2006 at 10:16 PM

I say deploy the dogs everywhere. They don’t single people out because of their surname or the color of their skin. — Constantine

…this is what we’ve come to in these times, in this nation…you set out to find mass-murderers, and you’re cleared to do that — in fact, if you don’t do it in time, you’ll be excoriated! — but you cannot give offense.

How about the offense given to 80 year-old grandmothers who have to bend over and take off their shoes?

How about citizens, importuned so that these “citizens of the world”, some of whom either support or encourage jihadism, don’t feel picked on?

When you’re out to catch a villain, particularly one whose announced intention is murder, chaos and terror, you don’t stand on niceties.

I’d use dogs, alright…rottweilers….

Puritan1648 on November 16, 2006 at 11:03 PM

…this is what we’ve come to in these times, in this nation…you set out to find mass-murderers, and you’re cleared to do that — in fact, if you don’t do it in time, you’ll be excoriated! — but you cannot give offense. Puritan1648 on November 16, 2006 at 11:03 PM

The true Catch-22, isn’t it?

PC gone wild in a world gone nutty.

Emmett J. on November 16, 2006 at 11:15 PM

Personally, I never travel without at least $75,000 in cash.

Peasant.

Vinnie on November 16, 2006 at 11:24 PM

Customs officials became suspicious of Dinssa when a narcotics dog signaled the scent of drugs on the money in his possession.

I seem to recall reading that virtually all paper money in the U.S. has enough drug residue to cause a dog to alert. According to this article, found in a cursory web search:

For example, a high percentage of U.S. currency is contaminated with cocaine, so that a drug dog’s alert to cash is not persuasive evidence that the money is illegally obtained profit from the sale of narcotics. US v $506,231 in US Currency, 125 F3rd 442, 453 (7th Cir 1997).

Rusty Bill on November 16, 2006 at 11:40 PM

Heh. I do this for a living.

Usually fully deleting the files and defragmenting completely blasts away any trace of them.

At a high level – Deleting data only removes some information on how to find the file. The data remains on the hard drive. There are many other variables, but generally, with continued typical use, over time, the odds are an analyst would find less, if anything, but you never know how much time is enough.

And if there is anything left it will not be intelligible.

A good analyst can make the un-intelligible intelligible quickly, but the volume of the un-intelligble “stuff” can slow the analyst down when solving a puzzle.

Especially with encrypted data, which is often cross-related.

Depends. Strong encryption and an enlightened user, the analyst might be dead in the water. On the other hand, many “systems” are not as secure as folks might think. Analysts have “work arounds” (like those little pieces of paper with passwords on them that folks leave lying around).

You could just write 0’s to the whole drive (format it). Not gonna be 100%, but it will take some kind of clairvoyant to figure out what used to be on there.

Format it once a day, twice on Sunday – the data is still there and an analyst will find it. Using a good data overwriting technique might stop an analyst cold, but make sure all of it was overwritten.

Regarding the first question;

First, what sort of files about cyanide and nuclear materials are “normally” downloaded from the Internet?

When questioned, Dinssa responded, “I never sought that material. It comes as a pop-up when I visit fatwa-online.com.”

Wonder if they found a porn cache on his computer.

AZ_Redneck on November 17, 2006 at 12:42 AM

When questioned, Dinssa responded, “I never sought that material. It comes as a pop-up when I visit fatwa-online.com.”

Wonder if they found a porn cache on his computer.

AZ_Redneck on November 17, 2006 at 12:42 AM

Chances are, if they did, it would be, “Jihadi’s Gone Wild!”

Emmett J. on November 17, 2006 at 12:50 AM

Puritan1648 on November 16, 2006 at 11:03 PM

Emmett J. on November 16, 2006 at 11:15 PM

Human lives are in the balance and PC saps don’t want to play to win.

I would pulling every Mo and Fatima out of line for a brief conversation and closer proximity to my dog.

Is that a Koran in your bag? Wearing a hijab? An implosion device design in your back pocket? Print outs from a cyanide research project? Please step outside the rope rail.

AZ_Redneck on November 17, 2006 at 12:55 AM

At a high level – Deleting data only removes some information on how to find the file. The data remains on the hard drive. There are many other variables, but generally, with continued typical use, over time, the odds are an analyst would find less, if anything, but you never know how much time is enough.

You’re right that the “odds” are less, but it depends on the operating system.

If Unix, the data tends to get overwritten (still recoverable by a law enforcement expert with the proper tools), but not in Windows, at least not anytime soon nor predictably:

Standing alone the DOS/Windows delete command simply does not ‘delete’ selected dat’s actual bytes from your disk/device. The DOS/Windows delete command only erases it’s own record of the area on the disk that your data occupied. Delete ‘unlinks’ the file by changing the first character of its name to a special byte.

Likewise UNIX and UNIX like Operating Systems standard delete commands do not completely wipe specified data unless specifically configured to do so. However, unlike DOS/Windows operating systems under UNIX like systems the area where the file resided on the hard disk drive is soon overwritten.

Laptops almost always use Windows, and even overwritten Unix is easily recoverable with the right tools.

The link that I gave above is the most concise guide to secure data deletion that I’ve seen (not the most comprehensive,.

Christoph on November 17, 2006 at 1:18 AM

Christoph on November 17, 2006 at 1:18 AM

I kept it high level to prevent the distraction from all the nuances and bore the heck out of everyone.

I am not a “law enforcement expert”, but I have performed many data forensic examinations. My experience, generally, for an end user system, UNIX/Linux is no better than Windows in this particular matter.

Want sell the old computer at a yard sale? Overwrite the hard drive with a good tool using a good algorithm.

Really concerned with what is on the drive (bank accounts, SSN, credit card numbers, etc)? Toss it in a chipper (I think acid will make a mess and big hammers make little projectiles – wear goggles).

AZ_Redneck on November 17, 2006 at 1:56 AM

I use Eraser designed by Peter Gutmann.

But it takes a long time to securely delete data (Peter Gutmann makes a good case for ≥22 pass deletion and I concur. With a 160GB 7200 HD and a Sempron 2500+ 1.75 GHz processor, that takes… about a month.

So if and when I get rid of my computer, for ID theft reasons, I will never include the HD. I’ll destroy it with HCl (hydrochloric acid).

I know when I was in the military, magnetic media was shredded, then burned, period.

Christoph on November 17, 2006 at 2:46 AM

Ignore the nuke files and the cyanide folks, come January we would have never discovered it anyway.

Buzzy on November 17, 2006 at 10:50 AM