New Mexico State University Student Charged with Making False Bomb Threat

LAS CRUCES—This morning, Daud Anwar, 29, a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who is a student at the New Mexico State University (NMSU), made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico on an indictment charging him with making a false bomb threat. If convicted of the offense charged, Anwar faces up to 10 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Anwar is temporarily detained pending a detention hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

According to the indictment, on March 3, 2011, Anwar used a telephone and the Internet to maliciously convey false information to the effect that buildings and occupants of buildings on the NMSU campus would be damaged and destroyed by an explosive device. The indictment, which was filed under seal on March 21, 2012, was unsealed yesterday by the U.S. District Court after Anwar was arrested without incident on the NMSU campus by the FBI and NMSU Police.

“Threats like the one alleged in the indictment are serious crimes and warrant a serious response,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales. “In a post-9/11 world, each and every bomb threat must be taken seriously. False bomb threats drain our already overburdened public safety agencies and prevent them from pursuing real threats to our security and other serious crimes. For this reason, we will diligently investigate and prosecuted these cases.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and the NMSU Police Department, with assistance from the Computer Security Team in the NMSU Information and Communications Technology Department, and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Branch Office in Las Cruces.