Siblings who fled to China charged over bomb planted outside US Air Force base

A sign for MacDill Air Force Base is displayed on a wall near the facility’s main gate in Tampa, Florida, on March 18.

Photo: Reuters A man who fled to China and his sister have been charged after an explosive device was left outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this month.

Their mother was detained for deportation, having overstayed her visa, a federal prosecutor said on Thursday.

Alen Zheng, 20, and Ann Mary Zheng, 27, were charged Wednesday in separate federal indictments.

The sister was arrested upon her return from China, where she flew with her brother after the threat.

Both have US citizenship, US Attorney Gregory Kehoe said during a news conference. “If you threaten to harm somebody or if you harm somebody in the Middle District of Florida, you will be brought to task,” Kehoe said.

Alen Zheng faces 40 years in prison if convicted of attempting to damage government property and unlawfully making and possessing the explosive device found in a package outside the base.

Ann Mary Zheng faces 30 years if found guilty of witness tampering and being an accessory after the fact to the crime, by allegedly selling the car he used to drop off the package.

Tampa Police Department officers and US Air Force service members block traffic after a security threat at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on March 18.

Photo: Reuters A defence lawyer for Ann Mary Zheng declined to comment.

Online court records did not list a lawyer for Alen Zheng.

Kehoe said the investigation developed very quickly after a suspicious package was found outside MacDill on March 16.

Agents determined that Alen Zheng actually planted the device on March 10 before making an emergency call to tell authorities about the bomb.

Air Force personnel had searched the base without discovering the device initially.

The day after the call, the Zhengs sold their Mercedes-Benz SUV and flew to China.

Ann Mary returned to the US several days later.

By then, investigators had used phone data to connect the emergency call to Alen Zheng, and spotted the SUV on surveillance video.

By the time they reached CarMax, the car had been vacuumed and cleaned, but they were still able to find evidence including residue from the explosive, Kehoe said.

When agents executed a warrant at the family’s home, they reported finding explosive device components.

Meanwhile, the device was flown by helicopter to an FBI lab in Huntsville, Alabama, for further examination, FBI Special Agent in Charge Ma

原文链接: 南华早报