Three held in Florida over suspected terrorist plot

Police in Florida are questioning three men who were allegedly heard boasting about their plans for a terrorist attack.

Police in Florida are questioning three men who were allegedly heard boasting about their plans for a terrorist attack.

Officers from the Highway Patrol shut down Alligator Alley, the main east-west highway across the Florida Everglades, after stopping two cars.

A bomb-squad team was later seen carrying out a controlled explosion on what appeared to be a backpoack taken from one of the vehicles.

Police had earlier issued an alert for the cars after a waitress reported overhearing three men discussing what sounded like plans for a terrorist attack.

Miami Police Lieutenant Bill Schwartz said the men were allegedly talking about amounts of explosives and warned that Americans would "cry on 9/13."

The three men were stopped heading west toward Naples on the Gulf Coast when they were stopped at 1am local time. Sniffer dogs are reported to have reacted positively to material found in both vehicles and bomb squad officers are still searching the car.