According to law enforcement officials at the scene the rented moving van used by two Israelis involved in the high speed chase near the tiny Appalachian hamlet of Mars Hill, N.C. last week tested positive for drugs, the MadCowMorningNews has learned exclusively.
While the FBI dismissed the finding as a 'false positive,' local law enforcement regards the test as highly accurate.
A spokesman for the FBI also dismissed the importance of the liquid tossed from the van by the men during the pursuit. "It's really no more than littering to be honest," said Thomas Browne, supervisor at the FBI's Johnson City, TN office.
"The Mystery of Mars Hill"
The dogged persistence of local officials in the face of seeming Federal indifference paid dividends when information surfaced this week indicating that the mysterious liquid the men threw out of the van during the pursuit can be used "as a culture, for growing some kind of bug.”
Notwithstanding these developments, the two Israeli men were released from government custody, after a judge in Erwin, TN suspended a 30-day sentence and turned the pair, 23-yr old Shmuel Dahan and 19-yr old Almaliach Naor, over to the INS.
In earlier statements, INS officials said the men would be subject to immediate deportation. Yet despite convictions for evading arrest, and being in the country illegally on tourist visas, the Israelis were freed on bond Monday morning, a discovery made in a phone call to Summit Moving Van Lines in Miami, the men's employer.
When the caller asked to speak to Shmuel Dahan, a man answering the phone there said, "I'm 'Shmuel."
Even as it ‘went away,’ at least officially, we learned of a possible New Jersey connection to the case, which one wag dubbed ‘The Mystery of Mars Hill.’
For the second time in the past two weeks Israelis in a moving van have been detained near a U.S. nuclear facility, this time at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base near St. Marys, GA., near Sea Island, host of the G-8 Summit next month.
"Security scare shuts Kings Bay" reported the Jacksonville Times-Union on Saturday. "Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base was locked down for security reasons Friday after two Israelis were detained for questioning."
Two Israeli men attempted to enter the base about 10:30 a.m., on the pretext that that had been hired by a moving-and-storage company to pick up household goods at an address on the base, the paper reported.
One occupant of the vehicle was unable to provide base security personnel with proper credentials, a base spokesman told reporters.
"Base personnel then inspected the van."
What the MP's found has no doubt since become highly classified. But before that could happen, a base spokesman had blurted this much of it out…
"A briefcase was removed from the vehicle with a remote control robot, but nothing was found in it."
"Nothing was found in the van, but both men, whose names were not released, were later taken into custody," the AP reported.
Another 'NASCAR Israeli' incident
But wait. There's more…
A bomb squad was called in after the van tested positive for a bomb. Local police were notified and shut down all roads leading to the base.
The Times-Union said, "Military dogs trained to detect bombs were called in. The military dogs were alerted to a scent in the cab of the truck. Guards closed access to the base and notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service."
The parallels between today's account and last week's incident (see story below: Israeli Movers Freed, Back in Miami,") are almost too numerous to mention…
"The dogs were called in again for a second pass of the vehicle, and they didn't pick up anything," said a base spokesman.
The two Israelis, whose names were not released, were taken into custody by federal immigration officers in Savannah for possible deportation.
The MadCowMorningNews has a crew on its way to the site, and will have a full report. See the latest episode of "Conspiracy Tonight" for an 8 min. peek at the "NASCAR Israelis" recent "Adventure in Appalachia."
DEVELOPING.
