Spy Wars (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Bombs in the Sky - full transcript

Lewis: In the 21st century,

The rules of the spy
war are being rewritten.

Today, intelligence agencies
fight a new, more elusive,

And fanatical enemy
radicalized abroad,

But very much homegrown,

An enemy prepared
to stop at nothing

And spare no one to
achieve its aims.

This is the story
behind the biggest

Surveillance operation
in british history,

And how the intelligence
agencies thwarted

The deadliest terrorist plot
ever devised on british soil.



On June 24, 2006,

A flight from
islamabad, pakistan

Landed at london's
heathrow airport.

Disembarking was
a british citizen,

Abdulla ahmed ali, on his
way home to east london.

Pantucci: He came from a very
ordinary well-integrated family.

He had been to school,
and had been a fairly

Well adjusted and
effective student.

Quite charismatic, and
within his sort of community,

He was clearly kind of
a leader type figure.

Lewis: But ali
was being tracked

By the british
security service, mi5.

Dryden: He was under suspicion.

It was believed that he
was becoming radicalized.



Lewis: Intelligence
suggested that abdulla ahmed ali

Had just returned from
northern pakistan,

Where he'd met with a
man called rashid rauf.

Goodman: Rashid rauf was
the link man between

What was going in
al-qaeda's central thinking

And lots of operatives back
in britain and elsewhere.

Lewis: A british citizen,

Rashid rauf had fled the
uk for pakistan in 2002.

By 2006, he was a senior
member of al-qaeda,

And the suspected
mastermind behind a series

Of deadly terrorist
attacks throughout europe.

Pantucci: The moment
at which ali

Comes into contact with rauf,

The threat picture around
him distinctly changes.

So it immediately shifts him
into a very different rank.

Lewis: Though mi5
didn't know it yet,

By the time abdulla ahmed ali

Returned to britain
in June 2006,

He had also become a
frontline al-qaeda operative.

Dryden: He was a terrorist ready

To do an operation
by that point.

Lewis: At the airport,

Ali's passport triggered
an internal warning,

And mi5 agents carried out a
covert search of his suitcase.

What they discovered raised
more questions than answers.

Dryden: There were bags of tang,

Which is a sugar-based drink,

Which is sold in
pakistan and india,

And quite a large
number of aa batteries.

Why you'd be bringing aa
batteries into the country?

They don't do anything different

From other double aa batteries,

So that raises suspicion.

Pantucci: You have
a situation here

Where you've got an individual

Who's been to a place that
they're concerned about

Who suddenly returned
to the united kingdom

With a whole series of material,

Not material that in
itself is that dangerous

But material that is
clearly being brought

Back for a very specific purpose

And one that they
don't understand.

Lewis: The airport discovery
marked a critical moment.

Mi5 suspected something
sinister was going on.

They just didn't know what.

British intelligence was
already on high alert.

Less than one year
before on July 7, 2005,

A homegrown terrorist
cell had orchestrated

What became known
as the 7/7 bombings.

Across london, 52
people were killed

And hundreds more injured.

Counter terrorism chiefs

Had vowed to do
everything they could

To prevent another
attack on british soil.

Abdulla ahmed ali appeared
to be a potential terrorist,

So he was placed under
24-hour surveillance.

Dryden: He was given
a code name,

A two-word code name,

Which in his case
it was lion roar.

Man: Lion roar is
leaving the station.

Hollington: Mi5 did not know
that there was a much

More dangerous reason
to be following ali.

At the moment he
was just someone

Who they were suspicious of.

Dryden: It was just a case of
we have to wait and watch.

There was absolutely no sense

How big this was gonna become.

Lewis: Mi5 was now
running the surveillance op

Alongside the metropolitan
police's counter terrorism unit.

The joint investigation was
named "operation overt".

Steve dryden was the
surveillance coordinator

For the operation based in
the major incident room.

Dryden: This is the bit
where we build up

A lifestyle picture
of the suspect

To find out if he's
doing anything

Which raises suspicions.

Woman: Target's moving
onto high street.

Dryden: It's important
to find out who he's with,

Who he's meeting,
what his lifestyle is,

What he's actually doing,
what mosque is he going to?

Lewis:
Surveillance operatives

Embedded themselves
within the community.

A team of more than 30 people

Were required to watch
ali 24 hours a day.

Hollington: These operations
expand very quickly.

It takes an extraordinary
amount of manpower.

You don't want the same people,

The same faces around every day,

So you've gotta
rotate those teams.

They don't employ the regular

Kind of people you'd expect
to be police officers.

Lewis: The team
believed that ali

Could be setting up
a terrorist cell,

So anyone he came
into contact with

Automatically became
a person of interest.

Dryden: An intelligence picture
will be built up on them.

Who are they?

Is there any
association with him

Or others of
interest in the past?

Are they part of a network?

Are they going to a mosque

Where we have concerns
about radicalization?

Goodman: Every telephone
conversation that is placed,

Every physical meeting
that takes place

Will bring into the
picture other individuals.

So the network becomes
a spiderweb of people

Within next to no time.

Lewis: From the
surveillance operation,

It became clear that ali
was in regular contact

With a man named tanvir hussain,

A 25 year old who lived
nearby in leyton, east london.

Pantucci: Ali and hussain are
both old school mates

And clearly hussain
looked up to ali.

He was clearly kind of
his older brother figure.

Dryden: Tanvir hussain
was a young man

Who had grown up in pretty
much a western lifestyle.

He had gone off the rails
to a certain extent.

He had experimented
with drink and drugs,

And then there was
a paradigm shift,

And he went way past islam
and into extreme islam.

Lewis: The two
men were so close

That investigators
believed hussain

Could be ali's second-in-command
in a terrorist cell.

Then, two weeks into
the investigation,

Ali met a new contact,

Using a technique familiar
from other al-qaeda cells.

Man: Lion roar meeting
unknown target.

Dryden: They lay on the
ground face down

With their heads together

And actually talked
into the ground,

And that is a classic
way of making sure

That anyone with
a long range mic

Can't pick up what
you're saying.

Lewis: It confirmed
investigators' worst fears.

They were dealing with trained
terrorist professionals.

Pantucci: I think there's
very clear evidence

That this cell had
been trained in

Counter-surveillance
techniques in pakistan.

Dryden: It gave us a wake
-up call to make sure

That we were ultra
careful because

They were taking
care of themselves.

Man 2: Right, stay on
the unknown male.

Man: I've got him.

Lewis: The surveillance
team followed ali's new contact.

Within hours, they had
identified him as assad sarwar.

Pantucci: Ali was clearly
kind of a leader,

Natural leader
amongst his group,

A very charismatic young man.

Assad sarwar was a bit more of

A bumbling figure if you will.

Lewis: Once a
mailman sarwar now lived

30 miles north of london in
high wycombe with his parents.

Hollington: He was not the most
gifted intellectually.

He sort of tried
to go to university

And dropped out fairly early on.

He'd never had a girlfriend,

And he never seemed to be able
to hold down much of a job

Lewis: But mi5
had seen enough

To place him under
full surveillance.

He was assigned the
codename rich food.

As the scope of the
investigation grew,

Surveillance operatives were
tracking more than 20 people.

Teams were in place across
london and the southeast,

With multiple live video feeds

Relayed to the
operation control room

At scotland yard 24 hours a day.

It soon became clear
to the watching spies

That three people in particular,

Abdulla ahmed ali, tanvir
hussain, and assad sarwar,

Were at the center of a rapidly
expanding terrorist cell.

Dryden: As we were going forward
with the investigation

And we were feeding in
the surveillance product,

We were seeing
suspicious activity,

Specifically from
the three of them.

Lewis: Tanvir hussain
was followed to a pharmacy

Where he was seen
purchasing large syringes.

Pantucci: I mean this is
a man who's not

Very involved in chemistry.

Why does he suddenly
need to buy syringes?

That raises some red flags.

Lewis: Assad sarwar
was watched buying

Citric acid in local shops.

And abdulla ahmed ali

Was observed doing
something stranger still.

Dryden: Ali was seen by a
surveillance team

In a news agent's shop

Paying particular attention

To the bottoms of
plastic drinks bottles,

And that made actually no
sense at all at the time.

As the surveillance
product's coming in,

We're trying to work
out and feed forward

What we thought they
were actually up to,

What the end game
was going to be.

Lewis: Then, investigators
uncovered a vital clue.

The surveillance team tracking
assad sarwar discovered

He was purchasing large
volumes of hydrogen peroxide.

Pantucci: Hydrogen peroxide
is a chemical,

And it's a chemical
that actually

Is fairly available
in our ordinary lives.

For example, hairdressers
tend to use it a lot

Because it's something
they use in bleach.

Lewis: But hydrogen
peroxide has another use,

As an explosive.

Dryden: At a concentrated level,
it can be weaponized.

For them to be purchasing that
there are no other reasons

You would buy hydrogen peroxide

If you are a
radicalised terrorist

Other than to build a device.

Lewis: Investigators
began to think that the tang

And the batteries
in ali's suitcase

Could also be
components of a bomb.

Dryden: We knew that
they would be

Constructing some
kind of device.

We just didn't know what the
device was going to look like.

Lewis: For mi5 and the
metropolitan police,

This plot was becoming
more sinister by the hour.

It was now clear the
surveillance teams

Had exposed an al
qaeda terrorist cell.

But they still had
no idea of the scale

Of the plot they were
about to undercover.

By July 2006, the
british security service

And london's metropolitan police

Were deep into a major
surveillance operation,

Tracking a homegrown
al-qaeda cell in east london.

Every terror cell needs a
base from which to operate.

But for weeks, it wasn't
clear if this cell

Had a headquarters at all.

Then, came a breakthrough.

The team tracking the
plot's ringleader,

Abdulla ahmed ali, followed
him to a new location,

A flat, in walthamstow,
east london.

Over subsequent days,
surveillance operatives

Observed other members
of the suspected cell

Entering and leaving
the property.

Pantucci: They
quickly discover that

This is the hub of operations

Where the plot is
essentially being run from.

Hollington: It was clearly the
center of operations.

If they wanted to
gather intelligence,

This was the place
that it had to be done.

Lewis: So investigators
came up with a high-risk plan.

While the plotters were out,

They'd attempt to rig the flat
with surveillance equipment.

Hollington: This was absolutely
crucial now

That they had to get
access to this apartment.

There is actually a
specialist police unit

And what they do all day long is

They practice getting in
and out of locked buildings.

Their task is to get
into these places

And get out again
without anyone knowing

They were ever there.

Lewis: Investigators waited.

Until one night, a window
of opportunity appeared.

The surveillance team
alerted the operations room.

The flat was empty.

Man 2: Subjects are
leaving the building.

Okay blue team go.

Lewis: With no idea when
the plotters would return,

The team had to act fast.

Man: Come on blue
team let's move it.

Hollington: They install
bugs and cameras

That no one will ever
be able to ever find

Because they are extremely tiny.

Man: Camera two is live.

Camera three live.

Roger that, all camera's
live, sir, done.

Man 2: Right, get them
out of there.

Man: Let's go blue
team, let's go.

Lewis: Then, the unit had
to get out leaving no trace.

The infiltration op was
an unqualified success.

Now the surveillance team
had extraordinary access

To the al-qaeda
cell's command center.

Goodman: For the first
time they were able

To monitor what was
going on inside there,

And that would prove
to be hugely important.

Hollington: One
detective told me that

They were almost
laughing about it

Because it was like watching
a very bad big brother.

Lewis: The security
services were now convinced

The walthamstow flat
was a bomb factory.

Ground surveillance teams were
instructed to sift through

Every possible piece
of forensic evidence,

For clues as to what type
of bombs they could be.

Dryden: They were followed away
from the address one day.

One of them had a
plastic bag with him.

He put it into a rubbish bin.

That was recovered, and
that had what I'd describe

As the component parts
of aa batteries in it.

That was another
light bulb moment

Because it meant that aa
batteries were going to form

Some part of the device
that was being built.

Lewis: Fifty kilometers
away assad sarwar,

Codenamed rich food,

Was amassing a stockpile
of hydrogen peroxide.

Sarwar had tracked
down suppliers online,

And traveled across the country

To buy small volumes
from multiple locations.

Dryden: That's a good way
of concealing the fact

That you're buying an awful
lot of hydrogen peroxide.

I would describe sarwar
as the quartermaster.

He was the one
who was purchasing

All the precursor chemicals.

Lewis: By early August,
he had bought so much,

That he was observed dumping
a suitcase of excess chemicals

In woods by his parents'
house in high wycombe.

Now investigators began
to put the clues together.

They believed the
plotters were developing

A new type of liquid
explosive device.

Mi5 now judged the threat to
be so severe that they alerted

Their intelligence partners
across the atlantic.

Michael chertoff was secretary

Of homeland security
at the time.

Chertoff: We typically had a

Very close relationship
with the uk

In intelligence and
counter-terrorism.

In fact, maybe closer than
with any other country.

Lewis: The scale
of the developing plot

Stunned the americans,

Including chief of
intelligence, charles allen.

Allen: I recall very distinctly
sitting in my office

At the department of
homeland security.

I received a call from the
head of mi5 and his deputy.

They said they wanted
to see me right away,

And then he laid out
where this was headed.

This was very serious indeed.

Lewis: Jose
rodriguez was the cia's

Head of clandestine operations.

Rodriguez: This was a really
serious plot

That could rival
9/11 on its scope,

So I was very
concerned about it.

Lewis: The american and
the british security services

Agreed to collaborate.

Because the cia was deeply
embedded within pakistan,

They took the lead
monitoring rashid rauf,

The plot's ringleader based
in the north of the country.

Hollington: One
thing that perhaps

The americans have
over the british

Is their intelligence
gathering abroad,

So while we had everything
covered in the uk,

It was very useful
to be able to call

On the american
expertise in pakistan.

Lewis: Then after
the investigation

Had been live for
almost a month,

Video surveillance from
the flat in walthamstow

Revealed the full
extent of the plot.

Man: What are they doing?

Man 2: I don't know.

Can you zoom in?

Man: Give it a go.

Lewis: Investigators
watched as tanvir hussain

And abdulla ahmed
ali began to drill

Small holes in the
bottom of juice bottles.

Dryden: It slowly became
apparent what they were up to.

Chertoff: They took a syringe,
drained the liquid,

And then re-injected
another liquid.

The consequence of that was
if you looked at the bottle,

It would look like an
unopened pristine bottle.

Dryden: The seal on top of the
bottle wasn't broken,

Which meant this bottle
or bottles were gonna form

A major part of the device
that they were building.

Lewis: The surveillance
video revealed the bottles

Were being filled with a
homemade liquid explosive,

Dyed with food coloring.

The battery casings

Were used to conceal
powerful detonators.

Goodman: The plotters were
getting batteries, opening them,

Removing the inner
bits of the batteries

And essentially using
the shell to then

Put explosive material inside.

These were then placed
inside disposable cameras.

Lewis: The tang powder
would act as an accelerant,

Making the mixture
even more explosive.

The terrorists had invented
an entirely new type of bomb

Much more difficult to detect,

And, potentially, a much
greater threat to life

That other al-qaeda devices.

Dryden: We had never come
across a device like this.

There was great
ingenuity in the way

That this device
had been designed.

Lewis: Investigators
realized these small

And easily transportable bombs

Were designed to be moved
in their constituent parts,

Before being assembled
at the target location.

This had a terrifying
implication.

Pantucci: They
immediately realized

They were trying to get past

A high level of security,

And usually when you think of
that high-level of security,

You're either thinking
a very secure location

Like, a ministry of defense,

Or some sort of official
building like that,

Or you're thinking aviation.

Dryden: They were
designed to detonate

In a space where it
could damage something,

And the obvious one was
inside an aircraft fuselage.

Pantucci: You'd create enough
of an explosion

To basically punch a hole
in the side of an aircraft.

An aircraft, of course, which
is up in at high altitude

In a pressurized environment,

Which would have immediately

Essentially brought
the aircraft down.

Allen: It would have worked.

It would have brought
down an airliner.

There could have been
huge loss of life.

Lewis: Al-qaeda had
weaponized planes before,

To deadly effect.

The events of
September 11, 2001,

Weighed heavily on the minds
of the intelligence community.

Allen: The white house
had suffered deeply

Because of the 9/11 attack.

Intelligence had
suffered deeply.

That was very much in my mind.

In fact, never
again can we allow

This country to be attacked.

Rodriguez: We had
received instructions

From the president saying,

"do not let this happen again."

So we were very concerned
about this whole thing,

And we were not
gonna let it happen.

Lewis: Since 9/11,

Airport security was
tighter than ever,

Meaning no terrorist
had successfully

Targeted an aircraft.

But this plot proved that
it was still possible,

And that al-qaeda
was undeterred.

Allen: This was ingenious.

It showed that al
qaeda had advanced.

They were doing
things that beyond

What had been done in the
whole world of bomb making.

This was a very, very deadly
way of doing business,

With which we were not prepared.

Lewis: The british and
american intelligence services

Were close allies.

But now, with
tensions heightening,

Cracks began to appear in
the special relationship.

Rodriguez: The british
wanted more time.

They felt that they were
on top of the situation.

They wanted to collect
additional evidence.

Hollington: In the uk, we're
used to following terrorists,

Unfortunately,
because of the ira.

So for decades now we've been
used to holding our nerves,

And trying to get the terrorists
as close to the moment

That they're going to commit
their crimes as possible.

Dryden: There was disquiet
between our approach

And the approach by the
americans in pakistan.

The americans took,

And always do take
a different view,

And they will spoil
the plot, disrupt it,

And deal with what they've
got there and then.

Allen: We had great confidence

In the british
security services.

But we were nervous
that there were

Other things that
could occur untold,

That someone had been missed,

Or an element of the plot had
been missed by the british.

Chertoff: We needed to be sure

That we didn't allow
things to go on

So long that someone
would actually

Put a device on a
plane and blow it up.

Lewis: The british intelligence
services won the argument.

But they knew that if
they'd made the wrong call,

The consequences
would be catastrophic.

By early August, 24
people were under

Round-the-clock surveillance,

Most of them in east london.

800 surveillance agents
were needed on the ground

To monitor all the suspects.

This was now the largest
surveillance operation

Ever undertaken in the uk.

Dryden: "operation overt" at
its biggest involved

Every surveillance
team in the country

Including northern ireland.

We were running out of teams.

What we needed was to
know what the targets were

And who the individuals
who were going to

Attack those targets
were going to be.

No stone was left unturned

At that stage of
the investigation.

Lewis: Then microphones
in the walthamstow flat

Picked up a recording
that made the team realize

The plot was of a greater
magnitude than they'd feared.

Ali: We got
six people, in it.

Me, omar b, ibo,
aro, and waheed.

There's another three units,

There's another three dudes.

Hussain: There's
another three more, yeah?

That a seven, eight,
nine, 10, 11, 12, 13.

That's 15.

No wait 18!

Think of it, yeah,
that's one more man.

Lewis: To the listening
intelligence operatives,

It sounded like there
would be 19 bombers.

The number had a significance.

It was same number of
hijackers responsible for 9/11.

It looked like the british
bomb plotters were trying

To emulate the biggest
terrorist attack in history.

British security
services had eyes

And ears on a major
al-qaeda terrorist cell

Planning to blow up u.S.
Bound passenger planes

Using liquid bombs
assembled on board.

British intelligence officers

Were in close contact with
their u.S. Counterparts,

But there was disagreement
on when and how to move in.

Now investigators had
picked up evidence

That the cell's ringleader,

Abdulla ahmed ali,
was getting nervous.

Writing to rashid rauf,

The plot's al-qaeda
orchestrator in pakistan,

Ali admits to being
worried he was followed.

But there was one crucial thing

The conspirators didn't know.

Just how closely they
were being watched.

Despite his concerns,

Ali took the critical
decision to go ahead.

Dryden: They decide to
press on with it

Regardless of the risk of
surveillance being in place.

Truth was we were all over
them like a cheap suit.

Lewis: Then on August
6th came the information

For which surveillance
team had long been waiting:

The specifics of
the intended attack.

Ali was followed by an mi5
agent to an internet cafe.

Dryden: She was able to get onto
a computer quite close to him

To work out that he was looking

At aircraft times
and departures.

Lewis: Ali was researching

A number of
transatlantic flights,

Departing heathrow within
a two and half hour window.

Rodriguez: All these
flights would be

Departing heathrow
on a given day,

Late in the afternoon
between 4:00 and 7:00 p.M.,

And would be flying
over the north atlantic

And would be blown up
simultaneously as they flew.

Lewis: The
timing was critical,

Coordinated for maximum impact
and maximum loss of life.

Chertoff: They were intending
to wait until the planes

Were sufficiently
far away from the uk.

That if one bomb went off

And the other planes
wanted to turn around,

They would not have enough
time to get back to safety.

Dryden: This looked like
a plot, potentially,

With a loss of life
of up to 2,000 people.

Allen: A huge horrible,
horrendous, murderous plot

That could have created great
damage to the united states.

It was really very scary indeed.

Lewis: This was now the
most significant

Terrorist conspiracy since 9/11,

Designed to instill panic
in both the uk and the u.S.

The specifics of the attack

Revealed the uk was to
be used as a launchpad

For a direct attack on america.

For those in washington,

This was a game changer.

Chertoff: Once we knew
they were focused

On aircraft going to the
u.S., it became our problem.

I mean until then we thought

It was a serious issue
for the uk government,

But then it became
our jurisdiction

When we became the target.

Rodriguez: For me, that's when I
said, "okay, this is imminent."

We knew who the principles were.

We knew who the
suicide bombers were.

We knew how were
they gonna do this,

And we knew what flights
they were going to blow up.

The only thing that we
didn't know was when.

Lewis: The
suspected terrorists

Were moving towards
the action phase.

With an attack potentially
just weeks away,

From his base in
pakistan, rashid rauf

Was training the plotters
in counter-surveillance.

Dryden: He was the guiding
hand for them

For issues like make sure
everything's in code.

Make sure you're not followed.

Make sure you dump everything
far away from the house.

Lewis: Rauf knew that
the terrorists would have

To make it through post
9/11 airport security.

So he ordered them to
ditch their old passports

And apply for new ones.

Dryden: They had stamps entering
and leaving pakistan,

And that may put them
under more scrutiny.

Goodman: Clean passports would
have no visa stamps,

No enter and exit information.

This clearly showed
that the plotters

Had been trained in
counter espionage,

Lewis: Then in early
August, surveillance operatives

Monitored a chilling
conversation.

The terrorists knew that a
pakistani male travelling alone

Could raise suspicions
at an airport.

But that a family would not.

Ali: Would your wife
consider going with you

On the operation?

Hussain: I think if
I was to say to her

That this was a
significant operation

She might even find it
in herself to do that.

Ali: What about the babies?

Maybe she could
take them with her?

Hussain: Maybe,
you know what I mean.

She'd like to do it though.

Pantucci: This meant you
had a cell,

Who was not only
building a device

That was gonna
penetrate security,

But was now talking in
terms of launching an attack

And really with this
sort of callous disregard

For not only the lives
of the innocent people

That they were gonna murder,
but also their own families.

Hollington: It's absolutely a
devastating thought

That they would do such a thing,

But, clearly, it would
take them that extra step,

Give them that extra
layer of protection.

Lewis: Just two days later,

Surveillance
microphones picked up

Snatches of another
ominous conversation.

Ali: Relax.

Speak normal english when
you mention allah do that.

Give a bit of aggression,
yeah, a bit loudly.

Man: Could we rewind
that, please?

Lewis: It became clear.

Ali was directing the london
plotters' performances

In their suicide videos.

Plotter: Stop supporting our
puppets and helping our enemies.

If you do this, we
will leave you alone.

Lewis: This was
incontrovertible proof

That the operation had
entered its final stage.

Chertoff: That told us they were

In the final stages
of preparation.

That increased the
intensity of our focus

On making sure that we were
ready to take this down

At the earliest
possible opportunity.

Lewis: Intelligence services

Both sides of the atlantic

Agreed a potential
attack was now imminent.

But in london, the
metropolitan police

And mi5 still wanted
to hold off.

Dryden: It was the approach
by the senior members

Of the counter terrorism
command at the time

That we let them run until we
have absolutely everything.

Lewis: What the
british didn't know

Is that individuals within
the cia had decided to act.

On August 8th, jose rodriguez,

Director of the cia's
clandestine service,

Was already in
place in pakistan.

Rodriguez: I just happened
to be on the scene.

The head of the service.

Me, on the scene.

Lewis: The cia worked
closely with the isi,

Pakistan's powerful
intelligence service.

They informed rodriguez

That they knew of
rashid rauf whereabouts.

Rodriguez: We were possibly
gonna be able to capture him

That very evening as he
traveled in the tribal area

From point a to
point b in a bus.

Lewis: Rodriguez
faced a dilemma.

He knew that if
they arrested rauf,

The british authorities would
have to move to apprehend

The plotters in
london, immediately.

Rodriguez: We had agreed with
the british authorities

To give them more time.

We had within our
grasp a terrorist

That was planning
to blow up airplanes

That could have killed
thousands of innocent people,

And I felt that we
had a responsibility

To protect these people.

So I said, "yes, let's
just go ahead and do this."

Lewis: Pakistan's isi
agents stormed the bus,

And seized rashid rauf.

Rodriguez: And after that,
all hell broke loose.

Dryden: It was quite clear that

We didn't want rauf
arrested when he was,

But the americans decided
to go ahead anyway.

I would say that the
senior management

Of the counter terrorism
command were very concerned

With the actions that the
american authorities took.

Was that diplomatic enough?

Lewis: As soon as the
plotters got news

That rauf had been arrested,

The risk was they would flee.

It was now a race against time

To round them up before
they detonated their bombs.

For the met police and
mi5 it was time to move.

In london,

Mi5 and the metropolitan
police moved immediately

To arrest al-qaeda
ringleader, rashid rauf's

24 suspected co
conspirators in the uk.

Pantucci: To suddenly have to

Abruptly wrap this
whole thing up

In such short time was
certainly not the way

That they wanted the
operation to roll out.

Dryden: There was a sense of

Tension in the air
at scotland yard.

No one really had to come in
because no one had gone home.

Everyone was there.

Everyone was at their desk.

Everyone was working.

Lewis: This was now a critical
national emergency.

Within three hours,
an additional 300

Specially-trained were
drafted for the arrest phase.

Pantucci: You saw this
massive operation

Suddenly click into action

With the police and
with security services

To go and wrap up this
really large cell.

Dryden: There was a mad rush to
get arrest teams in place.

We had to do what we do
best very, very quickly,

And that's just adapt
to the situation

And that's what happened.

Lewis: As the arrest
teams took their positions,

The surveillance unit
tracking assad sarwar

Reported he was heading from
high wycombe toward london.

Man 2: Blue team not too close.

Lewis: At the same
time, the ringleader,

Abdulla ahmed ali, was
also being tracked.

Man: All right, lion
roar is on the move.

Dryden: There were surveillance
teams on everyone,

But on, particularly,
on sarwar and ali.

Sarwar was travelling
from high wycombe.

Man 2: Rich food is turning
east toward walthamstow.

Lewis: As sarwar
approached the city,

Ali was followed to a
car park in walthamstow.

It became clear to
the surveillance team

The two men were going
to meet each other.

The ringleader was to
meet the quartermaster,

A clear sign that
the bomb plotters

Were about to move into
their attack phase.

The surveillance team
believed ali and sarwar

Could be about to exchange
the explosive devices.

Dryden: They are the two most
important in this plot.

So the decision was taken

To allow the surveillance
team to move in.

Man: Go all teams, go all teams.

All teams go, all teams go.

Man 3: Hey, stop!
Man 4: Hey, don't move!

Man 3: Do not move!
Man 4: You're under arrest!

Dryden: We had to get
them into custody,

And that was our main aim.

Lewis: When investigators
searched the vehicle,

They found a usb
stick containing

Flight details and
suicide videos.

Dryden: Possibly the most
important bit of evidence

That we found throughout
the whole investigation

Was in his pocket at
the time of arrest.

Lewis: With the two main
conspirators now in custody,

The race was on to
round up the others.

Through the night, 46
properties across london

And the southeast were raided,

With a further 22
people arrested.

Dryden: We had 24 suspects
and that evening,

We managed to get hold of them,

Take them all into custody,

And make sure there
were no stragglers.

Lewis: Every suspect
the police had been watching

Was accounted for.

The next morning,
britain woke up to news

That a major terrorist
plot had been foiled.

News anchor: There were plans
for as many as nine aircraft

Flying from the united kingdom

To the united states of
america to be attacked,

Possibly by some form
of liquid explosive.

Lewis: Another
9/11 had been averted,

Thousands of lives
had been saved.

But authorities were concerned

That knowledge of how to
build these liquid bombs

Could already have spread
through the al-qaeda network.

So governments around the
world reacted immediately

To ban all liquids
on all flights.

Rodriguez: The plot was
basically over.

The threat was over.

Now, what remained
was total confusion.

Hollington: From one moment
to the next,

Airports were thrown into
total and utter chaos.

Chertoff: We spent a lot of time
putting together a plan

So that when an arrest was made,

We could immediately shut down

The ability to bring
any liquid on the plane.

Lewis: Air travel
would never be the same.

Of the 24 suspects arrested,

Eight were initially tried
for terrorism offenses

In connection with the plot.

Abdulla ahmed ali was
sentenced to life in prison,

With a minimum term of 40 years.

Assad sarwar and tanvir hussain

Were sentenced to 36 and
32 years respectively.

In 2007, rashid rauf
escaped from police custody.

In 2008, he was killed in
a drone strike in pakistan.

Today, our police and security
services remain engaged

In a hidden battle to preempt
devastating terrorist attacks.

Dryden: I would say this is
a beacon of excellence

For how surveillance
operations should be run.

Rodriguez: This operation
was a huge success

For the british and
for us back home.

Pantucci: Our security forces
were incredibly successful

In preventing a massive
atrocity from taking place.

Chertoff: It's really actually
a real notable moment

In counter-terrorism.

Lewis: Twelve years on,

This investigation is held up

As one of the great operations
in intelligence gathering,

And a crucial success in
the fight against extremism.