FBI raids Muslim campground

FBI raids Muslim campground
9/27/2005 5:00:00 PM GMT

FBI agents and officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture raided a
Muslim campground in Moodus, Connecticut, and seized datashak plants and
seeds as well as 19 computer discs.

First Selectman Brad Parker said that Friday's raid on the 18-acre Town
Street campground, owned by Darul Uloom Shady Brook Inc., came as a
surprise.

"Out on the street, people don't think that [the federal government] would
go to that effort for a spinach plant," Parker said.

The federal Office of Inspector General declined to comment, citing an
ongoing investigation.

"OIG has no comment," said deputy counsel Paul Feeney.

Philip Prelli, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture, said he
wasn't aware that FBI agents planned a raid to confiscate the datashak, a
vegetable native to India also known as amaranth.

"I don't know why they confiscated that," Prelli said. "We have not had any
alerts on this seed or plant, and it's not illegal to grow."

Robert Myers, of the Missouri-based Amaranth Institute also said: "I have
never heard amaranth being seized.. It's never been used as a narcotic. It
has no history being under government scrutiny."

Darul Uloom is the name of a seminary in Deoband, India, considered a
cornerstone for Islamic sciences.

Property owners said federal agents are using the datashak as an excuse to
seize records and discs from the Muslim compound.

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