Suspect Sought in Bomb Threats

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities last week identified a suspect in a series of bomb threats made during the past several weeks to supermarkets and other businesses around the country, according to reports.

The reports said a Portuguese man who had previously been linked to a bank robbery in Miami Beach, Fla., and who was wanted for wire fraud was considered a suspect and was believed to be at large in Portugal last week.

In the threats, a man telephoned individual businesses and asked that money — $10,000 in some cases — be wired to him. The calls targeted individual supermarket locations in at least 15 states, including a Dillons store in Hutchinson, Kan., where the caller also told employees to disrobe, reports said. Calls were also made to Wal-Mart stores in Virginia and Rhode Island, and to several grocery stores in Ohio.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a guideline for how businesses can handle extortion bomb threats and posted it on its website, www.fbi.gov.

Among the FBI's suggestions: Ask the caller when the bomb is going to explode, where it is located and what it looks like. Also, document the exact wording of the threat.