FREDERIC, Wis. – A man arrested Tuesday during a traffic stop in this northwestern Wisconsin community had a federal drug warrant out for him but no known link to terrorism, FBI officials said.
Frederic Police Chief R.J. Severude said earlier that one of his officers stopped a van about 11:30 a.m., and when the man's Minnesota driver's license was checked there were felony warrants for him.
News reports quoted the chief as saying the allegations included funding terrorist attacks.
But the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Milwaukee office issued a statement Tuesday night that the man had only a warrant from the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"He's wanted on a drug warrant, but he is not wanted by the FBI and he has no nexus to terrorism," the statement said. "He is not on a terrorist watch list either."
Severude said later Tuesday night that he never indicated there was a suspected link to terrorism.
"The only thing I said was, the only thing we have confirmed is warrants for drug trafficking," he said.
However, Mark Povolny, assignment editor for WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, said the chief had told him and other reporters the man was wanted for "drug trafficking, money laundering and money used for terrorism attacks inside and outside of the country."
John Simon, night assignment editor at KARE-TV in Minneapolis, said the chief told him the same thing.
Frederic is a Polk County village of about 1,250 people.
The 31-year-old man, from St. Anthony, Minn., was being held on the federal drug warrant out of New York, pending extradition, the Polk County Sheriff's Department said.
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