Developing: NYPD/FBI Disrupt Terror Plot To Blow Up Synagogues

This is a developing situation, but the NY Post reports that four Muslim terrorists are in custody after a fifth member turn in the other four, claiming that the four had access to 100 pounds of plastic explosives and a plan to bomb 2 synagogues in the Bronx and an airplane at Stewart Airport.

A fifth member of the group went to the FBI and the joint terrorism task force who have been monitoring the terrorists for a year.

They were able to obtain more than 100 pounds of plastic explosives, sources said and were plotting to blow up a plane in Stewart Airport in Newburgh.

The arrests came after a lengthy undercover operation.

The FBI arrested four men in New York City on Wednesday evening in an alleged plot to detonate a bomb outside a Jewish temple.

Officials told The Associated Press the arrests came after a long-running undercover operation that began in Newburgh, N.Y.

The names and charges were not immediately known, but authorities said the suspects had planned to detonate a car with plastic explosives outside a temple in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale.

The investigation had been under way for about a year.

Read more: "FBI arrest four in alleged plot to car bomb Bronx synagogue" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/05/20/2009-05-20_fbi_arrest_four_men_in_alleged_plot_to_bomb_new_york_synagogues.html#ixzz0G6PwtcO1&A

I'm sure we'll be hearing a whole lot more about this in coming days.

UPDATE:
NBC New York has more details, including the names of the four suspects:

Investigators stress the suspects' meetings had been infiltrated early on and there was "no chance" the alleged plot could succeed.

Investigators said several of the suspects are Muslims who allegedly talked about destroying two Jewish temples, including at least one in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Prosecutors also said the men discussed trying to shoot down military planes at Stewart Airport using stinger missiles.

The four suspects were identified as James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen.

The men ordered and accepted delivery of materials they believed were bomb-making ingredients, authorities said. But investigators said they made sure the materials the suspects received were inert. Officials tell WNBC they moved in now so the alleged plot could not progress any further.

The four men are in custody and are expected to be arraigned Thursday in White Plains federal court on terrorism-related counts.

An official announcement of the arrests is expected later Wednesday or Thursday morning.

The motives behind the alleged plot are not yet known, but authorities said that Cromitie was apparently upset over the war in Afghanistan.

The four men also went by other aliases, as per the federal complaint:

James Cromitie, a/k/a "Abdul
Rahman," a/k/a "Abdul Rehman," David Williams, a/k/a "Daoud,"
a/k/a "DL," Onta Williams, a/k/a "Hamza," and Laguerre Payen,
a/k/a "Amin," a/k/a "Almondo," on charges arising from a plot to
detonate explosives near a synagogue in the Riverdale section of
the Bronx, New York, and to shoot military planes located at the
New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh,
New York, with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles. In their
efforts to obtain weapons, the defendants dealt with an informant
acting under law enforcement supervision, and the FBI and other
agencies monitored the defendants' actions up to the time of
arrest, including providing an inactive missile and inert
explosives to the informant for the defendants.

Cromitie appears to have been the ringleader, and he made contact with an informant who gained confidence with Cromitie. Cromitie expressed anger at the situation in Afghanistan where his parents live and expressed a desire to join Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist group on the US terror watch list.

The informant was asked to obtain surface to air missiles for use against US military aircraft flying out of the nearby Stewart Airport, which has an adjacent military base and explosives to be placed outside synagogues.

The informant then provided inert bomb materials to the four suspects. The arrests ensued, and each are charged with one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass
destruction within the U.S., which carries a maximum penalty of
life in prison, and one count of conspiracy to acquire and use
anti-aircraft missiles, which carries a maximum penalty of life
in prison and a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison.