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But part of the reason they were caught is that they were purportedly targeting airplanes, which are closely watched. If they had 18 people willing to act as s

• dkarl 16y ago
  But part of the reason they were caught is that they were purportedly targeting airplanes, which are closely watched. I can't claim to have done any more research than simply reading the Wikipedia article, but it seems like the principle plotter was already under police surveillance, leading to a secret bag search when he came back from Pakistan, which kicked off a huge surveillance operation on the whole group. It was after the police already found a "bomb factory" (but decided to watch the group further) that they observed one of the men -- the same one who was already under police surveillance to begin with -- researching airline timetables. So, if the order of events as described in the article you linked is correct, the plot was busted wide open before the authorities realized they were targeting airplanes.