From the Boston Herald, with thanks to Maintour:
Federal and state authorities are investigating a nuclear terrorist threat against Boston after a man calling from Mexico told California police that he smuggled two Iraqis and four Chinese over the border, the Boston Herald has learned.
“They got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway Patrol and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chinese (individuals) across the border and according to him, they stated soon to follow behind them would be some sort of material,” said a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
“He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.”
According to the source, the caller has not identified himself and did not show up for a meeting with federal investigators in California but he did leave pictures of four Chinese men and some names at a “drop” site at the Mexico-California border.
“They were dropped by the source at a location. He literally threw them over a fence from Mexico to the U.S. side,” said the source. “There are pictures of the four Chinese and some names but just how accurate they are remains a question”
Massachusetts law enforcement officials were notified of the threat at 5:30 a.m. today through the FBI and Boston Police Joint Terrorist Task Force.
The threat was serious enough that Mayor Menino ordered the Fire Commissioner and the state’s Homeland Security Chief into his office at City Hall, where they met with officials from the CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a high-ranking city official told the Herald.
“They are desperately trying to piece it together,” said the offial, who added that if the threat is real it is “very scary.”
A company that trains explosive-sniffing dogs said it was alerted that the canines would be searching for a “dirty bomb,” a New York City law enforcement official said yesterday.
UPDATE: This one was a hoax.