HazMat Truck Driver Student having no interest in learning how to back up...

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Providence Journal
Federal terrorism officials and Rhode Island authorities converged this week to arrest an Indian citizen enrolled in a Smithfield tractor-trailer training school who was trying to obtain a commercial driver’s license and permit to haul hazardous materials.

The man, Mohammed Yusef Mullawala, of Jamaica, N.Y., is being held in federal custody for overstaying his student visa. State police Maj. Steven O’Donnell said that after two days of truck-driving classes, Mullawala’s behavior was suspicious enough to prompt school officials to contact the Department of Homeland Security late last month.

“His behavior was consistent with terrorist-type activity,” O’Donnell said. “He showed no interest in learning the fine art of driving a tractor-trailer. He had no interest in learning how to back up.”

Using protocol established after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, officials from Nationwide Tractor Trailer Driving School, of 125 Washington Highway in Smithfield, contacted the federal Highway Information Sharing and Analysis Center with concerns about Mullawala. The center relayed the concerns to the Department of Homeland Security, which then contacted the Rhode Island State Police, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Authorities soon discovered that Mullawala was in the United States illegally , according to the state police. They also learned that he had driver’s licenses in three states, including Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.

O’Donnell said that Mullawala falsified documents when applying for a driver’s license at the Registry of Motor Vehicles by saying he was a Rhode Island resident. State authorities intend to charge him with identity theft for allegedly lying on the forms, O’Donnell said.

“If it was just three licenses, that wouldn’t raise too many red flags. But all the other stuff really raised some eyebrows,” O’Donnell said. “Maybe he’s not a terrorist. But there’s every indication that he’s hiding something.”

Mullawala told authorities that he was commuting to the Smithfield school from New York. He indicated that he was in a hurry to obtain a commercial driver’s license and a permit to haul hazardous cargo. And Mullawala indicated to the truck driving school that he wasn’t interested in learning how to back up a tractor-trailer, according to O’Donnell.

“There may be some legitimate reason he doesn’t want to learn to back up or drive [the truck] properly…He gave an explanation,” O’Donnell said, declining to detail the explanation.

The state police lured Mullawala to state police headquarters on Tuesday “on an unrelated matter that we created for him,” O’Donnell said. “He was not aware he was coming here to be arrested.”

He has since been turned over to immigration officials and is being held in federal custody pending the results of an immigration hearing in Boston. Mullawala faces deportation.

“There’s no nexus to terrorism we can prove,” O’Donnell said. “Sometimes there’s no way of telling and we don’t want to wait to find out.”

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NEW YORK — Mohammed Yusef Mullawala wanted a license to transport hazardous materials and to learn how to drive commercial tractor trailers. There was nothing unusual about that, until he told his teacher that he only wanted to learn how to drive forward, and he wanted to learn fast.

That was enough to raise a red flag with Darleen Crawford, president of the Nationwide Tractor Trailer Driving School in Smithfield, R.I., where Mullawala took driving classes.

Federal and state authorities are investigating why Mullawala was seeking a commercial trucking license after his behavior raised flags at the Rhode Island driving school. Crawford said he was also insistent on taking the test necessary to earn a license to transport hazardous materials.

Mullawala, a 28-year-old citizen of India who is of Pakistani descent, is now in federal custody in Massachusetts on immigration violation charges.

"We are still digging into his background, digging into where he lived in Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey," Major Steven O'Donnell with the Rhode Island State Police told FOXNews.com on Wednesday. "A lot of still doesn't make any sense, why he would be doing what he was doing."

Crawford said Mullawala came to the school with a Rhode Island driver's license inquiring how to obtain a commercial driver's license within a month. It normally takes around eight weeks for a student to go through all of the required courses before he or she obtains a permit, she said.

"We've been doing this for quite a long time and a lot of things just didn't add up," Crawford said.

Crawford started documenting suspicious activity: Mullawala lived in New York City but traveled to Rhode Island for the driving classes; he missed his first day of classes; and he was very insistent on getting his hazardous material transport license.

But the fact that he only seemed interested in driving forward was the most concerning.

"We tell them from Day One, 'you will be backing up,' 'you'll be backing up every single day,'" Crawford said, adding that it normally takes two to three weeks of practice backing up before drivers get road permits and learn how to drive forward, among other things.

"He was just really pushing to get out of here," she continued. "I've been doing this for 30 years so you just sort of know when something doesn't feel right."

After Mullawala took two classes, Crawford contacted Highway Watch, which had conducted an anti-terrorism and safety program at her school. Highway Watch's Information Sharing and Analysis Center then contacted the Department of Homeland Security, which contacted Rhode Island state police. The ISAC sent an advisory out to law enforcement nationwide about the individual.

A joint investigation was then launched by investigators from the Rhode Island State Fusion Center, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Investigators learned that when Mullawala obtained his driver's license from the Rhode Island Registry of Motor Vehicles, he gave a false statement indicating he was a Rhode Island resident. ICE then determined he was a citizen of India and in the United States on an expired temporary student visa.

On Tuesday, Mullawala went to state police headquarters thinking he was responding to another matter. He was then apprehended and turned over to ICE.

He's being held in the federal Suffolk County detention center in Boston until his immigration hearing in Boston, which is expected to be sometime within the next few weeks. He will be charged with overstaying his visa and is facing possible deportation back to India.

O'Donnell said his department, as well as the New York and New Jersey JTTFs, are investigating Mullawala's background and the residences he had in those three states.

Authorities have not yet turned up the names of any other specific individuals Mullawala may have been conspiring with.

"He didn't have family, he did have friends," O'Donnell said, adding that authorities are trying to track down people Mullawala was associated with in New York, where his most recent address is located.

That address is 161 84th Road in Jamaica, Queens, according to Rhode Island police. He also has a residence on Carpenter Street in Providence, R.I., which he apparently hasn't lived at since 2003.

Police are also studying a computer taken from one of Mullawala's residence, O'Donnell said, adding that the man apparently was a computer expert. They will look at his e-mails, as well as any Web sites he frequented. Any potential overseas connections will be handled by the FBI and DHS, O'Donnell said, although none have yet turned up.