Bulk cell phone purchases puts VCSO on alert

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Nevada Daily Mail

In light of recent high-profile terrorist attacks, suspicious activity regarding bulk cell phone sales at three Missouri Wal-Marts have Jason Mosher and the Vernon County Sheriff's Office on alert.

According to a Dec. 9 Fox4KC.com article, "In less than a week, law enforcement agencies in three different Missouri cities have investigated the purchase of large quantities of cell phones at Wal-Mart stores. In two cases, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was contacted. According to KSPR reports, "police were called to a Lebanon, Mo., Wal-Mart when two men purchased about 60 cell phones early in the morning. Police tell KSPR that terrorists can use cell phones as bomb detonators in addition to using them for communication, and can be hard to track if prepaid."

Similar incidents also took place in Columbia as well as Macon County. Mosher said these incidents raise red flags.

"These recent cell phone purchases are definitely something that stands out," Mosher said.

According to a Christian Science Monitor article via Yahoo News, "A witness to the Missouri incidents said he became suspicious when he saw the men pay with cash.

"Right then and there I knew there was not something adding up about this," he told ABC 17 News. "Who's going to order 50 phones for Christmas? Who does that?"

Despite high-profile targets and heavily populated areas typically being the focus of terrorist attacks, Mosher said that Nevada residents should still be on guard.

"We're seeing more and more that they're possibly trying to target smaller areas just because they know those aren't being watched as much," he said. "It's just the way everybody thinks -- 'I'm not in St. Louis or Kansas City so I'm fine in Nevada.' But eventually (terrorists) are going to pick up on that. We need to at least be vigilant and not take it for granted that we're in a smaller community 'so it probably won't happen here.'"

Mosher said he tells his deputies to "train for it and then hope it never happens."

"With terrorist attacks, citizens help the most," he said. "They need to be observant and report stuff when they see it. It's not against the law, but if somebody is trying to buy 100 prepaid burner phones in the middle of the night, it might be helpful to at least contact law enforcement and give them a heads up. Things like this are always a sign and we need to be ready for it, and do what we can to be proactive."

Mosher said the VCSO stays in contact with federal authorities.

"We get notifications from the FBI and the highway patrol, telling law enforcement about trends that they're seeing and what to be prepared for," Mosher said.

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