Stolen Explosives Recovered; Four Suspects in custody

An unspecified tip led to the arrest Friday of four men in connection with the recent theft of a large quantity of high explosives and supplies that could enable the flattening of a large building, according to federal officials.

According to the limited details released by the FBI Friday, the explosives were recovered intact. Two unidentified suspects and one David Brown were arrested in Bloomfield, New Mexico, a small town 170 miles northwest of Albuquerque near the Colorado border. Brown’s brother Leslie Brown, was also arrested 60 miles further north, in Ignacio, Colo. The brothers were previously convicted of felonies and now face federal charges. Investigators are still searching for a fifth suspect in Bloomfield, according to Albuquerque’s Action 7 News.

The police report issued earlier this week indicated that thieves used blowtorches to cut the locks at Cherry Engineering Inc.’s explosives depot, eight miles south of Albuquerque. There are over a dozen trailers on the property owned by various companies, but, “the theft was from Mr. Cherry’s two explosive magazines,” said Tom Mangan, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. “That’s where all the explosives, high explosives, were taken from.”

Mangan confirmed only that the theft took place sometime between December 13-18, giving the vandals a “huge head start.”