WASHINGTON?Federal investigators are conducting raids nationwide on jewelry stores owned mostly by Pakistanis, hoping to break up fronts for terrorist groups or their financial backers, U.S. officials say.
The raids have taken place in several cities over the past two weeks, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and New York. About 75 jewelry stores have been raided.
Tariq Hussain, whose Intrigue Jewelers kiosk was searched on June 26, said FBI agents questioned him for several hours and wanted to know if he had connections to al Qaeda.
“They took everything?my paperwork, bills, my computer, my checks,” he said. “I told them, ‘I don’t have any links to anything like that.'”
The raids were not prompted by evidence of wrongdoing by all the individuals who were questioned, another U.S. official said. More than a dozen people are still in detention following the raids.