"According to Bill Vanderland, agent in charge of Midland's FBI office, no laws were broken when a group of men attempted to purchase a large number of cell phones from the Wal-Mart in the 200 block of Interstate 20 Dec. 18.

However, FBI agents responded to the incident at the request of the Midland Police Department, which was alerted to the attempted purchase by Wal-Mart employees.

Several members of the group were detained, Vanderland said, when authorities discovered they did not possess necessary immigration documents.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ultimately charged one man for an immigration violation, Vanderland said, and two others were released after producing appropriate documents.

ABC's Thursday story also asserted a link between a suspected terrorist cell and the men attempting to purchase cell phones in Midland.

According to an MPD incident report quoted in an ABC online report paralleling Thursday's televised Nightly News story, "it was discovered that members of the group were linked to suspected terrorist cells stationed within the Metroplex."

However Vanderland said Thursday after the ABC report aired that assertions of a connection between a terror cell and the men who attempted to purchase cell phones from a Midland Wal-Mart were invalid.

"There is no known link or demonstrated link or any other kind of link at this point between the people here and any terror cell," he said."