A 43-year-old Everett resident made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court today charged by criminal complaint with shipping of explosive materials, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.
Thanh Cong Phan was arrested Monday March 26, 2018 after a number of packages containing small amounts of black explosive powder were received at various mail-screening locations in the Washington DC area.
The mailings were addressed to the White House, the FBI, and various government and military installations.
The investigation to locate and isolate all of the packages is ongoing.
No packages have exploded or caused any injuries.
(A law enforcement official says an arrest has been made in Washington state in connection with a series of suspicious packages that were sent to military bases and government sites in the Washington, D.C. area. Courtesy of CBS News and YouTube. Posted on Mar 27, 2018)
Phan became a suspect in the case when a U.S. Postal Service inspector traced the tracking information on one of the packages to the Mill Creek, Washington post office self-service kiosk.
Surveillance photos from the time of the mailing appeared to show Phan.
Writings contained in the package were also similar to previous correspondence from Phan to various government agencies.
Phan had been known to police previously because of the writings, and due to frequent contact with the 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system.
(Learn More. Several suspicious packages were sent to a handful of military bases in the Washington area Monday. Some of them contain materials that tested positive for explosives. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports from the Pentagon. Courtesy of CBS Evening News and YouTube. Posted on Mar 26, 2018)
Phan was taken into custody without incident.
Shipping of explosive materials is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.
A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
