Large quantity of cellphones bought raises red flags
December 9, 2015 
Economic News
December 9, 2015
In the early morning hours on Saturday–around 3:50–two men buying a large number of cellphones at the Walmart in Lebanon set off some concern.
Local authorities were alerted.
“Somebody went in and bought 60 cellphones from Walmart that’s not normal for this area,” explained Laclede County sheriff Wayne Merritt.
After talking with the men, officers didn’t have a legal reason to detain them so the men were allowed to leave, according to a Lebanon Police Department incident report.
Local authorities, though, did notify the FBI.
Sheriff Merritt said calling law enforcers was the right move.
“I’m not going to say just because they’re different religion or because they’re Muslim, but these people were they were foreign speaking, then you need to take notice and you need to let us know about it because it doesn’t hurt to check on it. You’re not being racist or anything like that you’re just protecting yourself,” Merritt said.