Ohio Storage Facilities Alerted

(Columbus, Ohio) State and federal agencies, including the FBI, have been sending out alerts and warnings to owners and managers of self-storage businesses in the Columbus area to be on the lookout for possible terrorist activity. Apparently the authorities have received intelligence indicating that public self-storage units have been used for staging of weapons and explosives and for bomb preparation. This makes sense because, in a storage unit, the terrorists wouldn't have to worry about nosy neighbors as they would in an apartment building or residential street.

Law enforcement said owners, workers and customers should be on the lookout for storage items like chemicals, pesticides, explosives, ammunition and laboratory materials, such as masks and rubber gloves, textbooks, and manuals, such as those explaining how to fly a plane.

They should also look for large delivery vehicles, containers and equipment.

Owners are being asked to watch for customers who insist on paying in cash or who seem overly concerned about privacy and who visit the facility late at night.

It's also being reported that, starting this month, a statewide terrorism prevention program records database will be inaugurated. The plan is to connect all 970 local law enforcement agencies in Ohio and be accessible statewide.