Terrorist cells too close for comfort

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Part II: Drug smugglers turn to northern border

Part I: Guarding America's border

Third of three parts

BUFFALO, N.Y. - They're hiding in plain sight, just north of here -- a short striking distance away from some of America's most-vulnerable targets.

This silent army of terrorists, including members of al Qaeda, has the "capability and conviction" to support devastating attacks across North America, operating out of "sleeper cells" from Montreal to Vancouver, according to U.S. and Canadian law-enforcement authorities.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has called the 4,121-mile U.S.-Canada border a "soft spot" for terrorism, and law-enforcement authorities in both countries think that cell members in Canada -- and others who have relocated to the United States -- are awaiting orders, financing and a window of opportunity to strike again.

And the authorities said the large and growing population of illegal aliens now in the United States gives the would-be terrorists, mostly Islamist extremists, the necessary cover to operate in this country.

"Our mission here is very clear," said Peter J. Smith, who heads the Office of Investigations for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York. "We need to develop the necessary intelligence to harden our border with Canada, to make sure we can protect this country against terrorists -- whatever their source."