Arrest made in sending of packages to D.C.
WASHINGTON — A 43-year-old man was arrested Monday outside Seattle and charged with sending 11 packages containing explosive black powder to federal addresses in the District of Columbia area, including the White House and several military installations.
Investigators said they do not have a clear motive in the case. They said each package contained a glass vial or small bottle filled with powder, a fuse and a global positioning device. The packages also had typewritten letters that the FBI described in a criminal complaint as containing “ramblings about neuropsychology, mind control and other subjects including terrorism.”
Authorities identified the suspect as Thanh Cong Phan, who lives in Everett, Washington. He was arrested at his trailer by Snohomish County deputy sheriffs and charged with interstate shipping of explosive materials, a federal crime.
Many of the packages were intercepted at screening facilities on the receiving end. None exploded, and no one was harmed. But federal authorities said buildings were evacuated and law enforcement officers were scrambled at each location.
Authorities said packages allegedly sent by Phan were addressed to the National Defense University on the grounds of Fort McNair, FBI headquarters, Fort Belvoir, Joint Base AnacostiaBolling, the CIA in Langley and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia.
Phan appeared briefly Tuesday in federal court in Seattle. His relatives could not be reached for comment after the appearance, and his federal public defender, Ashwin Cattamanchi, declined to comment.
The FBI, citing the letters accompanying the most recent packages, alleged in the criminal complaint filed Tuesday that Phan has sent hundreds of letters over the past three years to government agencies “containing similar incoherent ramblings.”
Officials cautioned Tuesday that additional packages might have been sent to mail-processing facilities in the District area and said they remain on alert.
The FBI said it is working with local law enforcement agencies and reminded the public to “remain vigilant and not touch, move or handle any suspicious or unknown packages.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said a U.S. Postal Service inspector traced one of the packages from an FBI mailing facility in Baltimore where it had been received back to a post office in Mill Creek, Washington. Surveillance photos at the post office’s self-service kiosk appeared to show Phan mailing the package, the statement said.