Charleston (Goose Creek, SC) Hwy 176 Situation Report

- Suspects charged with possession of an incendiary device, face between 2 to 15 years in prison if convicted.

- Suspects held on $800,000 combined bond

- "Both of them are really naïve kids."--Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations,

Photo: Alan Hawes/The Post and Courier

UPDATE: The two Middle eastern men stopped with bomb materials in their vehicle - and a possible bomb "ready for use" have been identified as Yousef MEGAHED, 21, and Ahmed MOHAMED, 24. According to information reported to the media, they are not United States citizens. Investigators from the Northeast Intelligence Network in Florida are conducting background investigations on both subjects, who appear to be registered as students at a Florida college. Additional information will be published as developed.

5 August 2007: At approximately 6 p.m. last evening, the Berkeley County, South Carolina Sheriff's Department arrested two men in the Goose Creek area north of Charleston, following the stop of their 4-door sedan on Highway 176. By 7 p.m., Highway 176 was shut down and remained so for at least 9 hours. The circumstances surrounding the pull over of this Florida-tagged sedan involves the concerns raised among Berkeley deputies regarding another stop in a different jurisdiction, and that the vehicle was speeding through Goose Creek.

The deputies discovered what they believed to be explosives rigged as a bomb within the trunk of the vehicle. One or both of the men arrested appeared to eyewitnesses to be of Middle Eastern descent. At 3:45 this morning, a Charleston County Sheriff's EOD squad destroyed the explosives in a controlled detonation. The FBI has made public comment that there was "no immediate threat" in this incident. The two men have reportedly been charged with "possession of unlawful explosives."

Goose Creek is home to the Naval Weapons Station Charleston, which has the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig as a base tenant. Captured 'enemy combatants' have been held in this facility. NWS Charleston is also home to the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power Training Commmand and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR).

Our investigation continues...