Secrets, guns and drugs lie under rubble

By GEOFF CUMMING

Vital evidence in the fight against organised crime and terrorism may be lost forever in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

And with millions of dollars in gold bars and art treasures also buried in the wreckage, New York City officials are worried about the foothold gained by organised crime in the cleanup.

Beneath the haunting presence of thousands presumed dead, Ground Zero is rich with documents, guns and other evidence collected by the CIA and US Secret Service.

Both agencies had offices in the twin towers destroyed by suicide plane attacks on September 11.

US Customs and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms suffered similar losses.

Somewhere in the rubble are safes containing guns, heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy - evidence from crimes that now may never be prosecuted.

The CIA ordered the World Trade Center Seven building surrounded by FBI agents shortly after it collapsed.

Since then, they have been searching for computers and a safe filled with classified documents.

Rescue workers have found weapons belonging to the Secret Service. Still buried are detailed contingency plans for presidential motorcades in New York and files on investigations that include the closely guarded names of informants in organised crime and terrorism.

Tax investigators based in World Trade Center building Six have lost countless confidential documents.

The Securities and Exchange Commission lost files on several hundred cases.

Government agents are watching construction workers employed in the removal through binoculars as they search.

Meanwhile, a steel "cross" found in the rubble has been adopted by rescue workers as a symbol of faith.

The 6m cross, which fell intact from one of the twin towers, was found early in the search for survivors.

Rescue workers have since made pilgrimages to pray or meditate near it, some etching messages on the metal.

This week, workers hoisted the cross atop a 12m-high foundation and stood quietly as it was blessed with holy water.

Few other identifiable items have been recovered from the wreckage. But with such valuable and sensitive items buried, ABC News reported growing concern at the presence of trucking firms and cleanup workers with organised crime connections.

Authorities are investigating claims that Mob-connected truckers stole tonnes of scrap metal instead of taking it to a landfill site for inspection.

Most workers at the site are provided by the Carpenters' Union Local 608, which has longstanding ties to the Genovese crime family.

Some workers have allegedly been forced to pay kickbacks to Mob-connected union officials in order to keep working.

Investigators say the Mob slipped in quickly in the early, frantic days. To the Mafia, the scene of devastation and worldwide shock instantly spelled "money."

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