NEW YORK -- Najibullah Zazi, the Aurora, Colo., shuttle bus driver under arrest on charges of lying to federal authorities in a national terror probe, has been indicted for conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against the United States.

The indictment, handed down by a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York, was reported by Call 7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski in New York on Thursday morning.

The federal grand jury in New York returned the one-count indictment Wednesday, alleging that between Aug. 1, 2008 and Sept. 21, 2009, Zazi "knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction" against person or persons in the United States. The weapons were described as "explosive bombs."

The indictment alleged that in July and August, Zazi and associates in Denver purchased large quantities of chemicals that could be used to make bombs.

A separate document, a government motion seeking to deny bail to the 24-year-old Afghan immigrant, lays out evidence gathered by investigators.

The detention motion states, "In furtherance of the conspiracy, Zazi received detailed bomb-making instructions in Pakistan, purchased components of improvised explosive devices, and traveled to New York City on Sept. 10, 2009 in furtherance of his criminal plans."

The government's detention memo further states that "Zazi remained committed to detonating an explosive device up until the date of his arrest, as exemplified by among other things, traveling overseas to receive bomb-making instructions, conducting extensive research on the Internet regarding components of explosive devices, purchasing -- on multiple occasions -- the components necessary to produce TATP [Triacetone Triperoxide] and other explosive devices, and traveling to New York City on Sept. 10, 2009 in furtherance of the criminal plan."

TATP is the same kind of explosive used in the London train bombings in 2005 and the failed "shoe bomb" plot in 2001.

The document said that on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, Zazi tried on multiple times to communicate with another individual "seeking to correct mixtures of ingredients to make explosives."

"Each communication," the document said, was "more urgent than the last."

Feds: Chemicals Bought, Mixed In Denver Area

On Aug. 28, Sept. 6 and Sept. 7, authorities charge Zazi rented a suite at an Aurora hotel.

The Call7 Investigators have learned that hotel was the Homewood Studio Suites on Harvard Avenue, near I-225 and Mississippi. The room had a kitchen, and subsequent FBI testing for explosives and residue in the suite found the presence of residue in the vent above the stove.

FBI agents fanned out to beauty supply stores in the Denver area to check out allegations that Zazi was visiting such stores in pursuit of bomb-making materials.

Oscar, a man who works at Beauty Supply Warehouse on East 6th Avenue and Potomac in Aurora, told 7NEWS that he sold Zazi beauty supplies and that the FBI did ask questions about him.

He said Zazi came in about four times, and they talked briefly each time. He had asked Zazi why he was buying so many beauty products, and he said Zazi replied, "I have a lot of girlfriends."

"We talked a lot. It's not interesting what he said because it's all lies, a lot of things about him, but it's all false," said Oscar.

Oscar did not want his last name released. He then ran into the store and management told reporters to leave.

According to law enforcement sources, Oscar picked a photo of Najibullah Zazi out of an array of photos and confirmed that Zazi did visit his store and bought beauty supplies.

A former employee said the store has dozens of suveillance cameras inside.

"If you walk in that place, the whole ceiling just looks like a casino," said Gabriel Abreo, whose wife still works in the store. "They've got some pretty good surveillance in there."

The indictment said surveillance video and receipts show that Zazi purchased liquid developer clairoxide from an unidentified store on July 25 and bought 12 32-ounce bottles of "Ms. Kay's Liquid 40 strength" on Aug. 28. That same day, Zazi rented a suite to cook the ingredients, the affidavit said.

Individuals associated with Zazi purchased unusual quantities of hydrogen and acetone on July, August and September from three different beauty supply stores in and around Aurora, the indictment said. Those "associates" have not been named.

One person bought a one-gallon container of a product containing 20 percent hydrogen peroxide, another person bought acetone products in the first week of September, and a third person bought 32-ounce bottles of "ion sensitive scalp developer" on three occasions.

The owner of Denver Beauty Supply, Beverly Gonzales, said FBI agents questioned her clerks about Zazi over a week ago, but they hadn't seen him.

"Anybody coming in looking for the quantities they were looking for would have raised red flags," said Gonzales. "We would never have sold it without a cosmetology license."

A Sally Beauty Supply spokeswoman is staying tight-lipped about the investigation.

The indictment alleges that Zazi received instructions from al-Qaida on how to build the explosives while in Pakistan in August 2008. Nine pages of handwritten notes found on his laptop computer describe how acetone found in nail polish remover and hydrogen peroxide can be mixed together with muriatic acid -- a chemical found in home improvement stores and used to clean concrete -- to make a bomb.

Zazi searched the Internet for home improvement stores in Queens, New York that sell hydrochloric acid before driving a rental car for a two-day trip to the city, the court document said.

A senior official familiar with the investigation said Zazi had associates who visited Colorado from New York to help him buy the chemicals. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they used stolen credit cards to make the purchases and then returned to New York.

During raids of three apartments in Queens, FBI agents seized a dozen new black backpacks, cell phones and a scale. Federal authorities are still unsure about the target of the alleged attack.

Authorities hadn't determined a time of a possible attack, and Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington, "We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted."

Zazi had visited Pakistan in August 2008 and returned to New York in January 2009. He then moved to Aurora, and his father joined him in Colorado seven months later. His attorney had said Zazi had traveled to Pakistan to visit his wife.

Zazi's Case May Move To New York

Zazi appeared in court in Denver at 9 a.m., on a count of lying to federal investigators. During the hearing his attorney, Art Fowler, asked that all Colorado charges against Zazi be dismissed, now that there's a more serious charge of conspiracy. He was granted a continuance for the hearing until Friday.

The judge did not rule on the motion to dismiss the complaint, but if the charge of lying to federal authorities is dismissed, Zazi would not be facing any charges in Colorado.

At Friday's hearing, the judge is expected to rule on the motion to dismiss and to hold an identity hearing, where he will have to formally verify that Najibullah Zazi is the same Zazi named in the New York indictment. The step is essentially a formality that will lead to Zazi's extradition.

Federal authorities now want to transfer Zazi from custody in Denver to New York, and it appears that most of the case will shift to New York, Kovaleski said.

Zazi has publicly denied any terrorist plotting. Counterterrorism agents fear he and others may have been planning to detonate homemade bombs on New York City commuter trains.

If convicted of the single charge in the indictment, Zazi faces a potential sentence of life in prison.

Some called this case the largest domestic terrorist investigation on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

The attorney for the New York imam also arrested for lying to federal authorities said the FBI had bungled the case and the new conspiracy charge was a way for them to cover up their tracks. Ahmad Afzali appeared in court in Brooklyn, New York, Thursday morning and was released on $1.5 million bond.

Afzali, who has been an informant for New York police, is accused of tipping Zazi to the FBI investigation.

"Why on earth would the imam lie to the FBI about the contents of a phone conversation that he knew the FBI was taping?" asked Afzali's attorney, Ronald Kuby.

"The NYC PD intelligence division came to the imam, they were desperate to find out anything they could find out about Najibullah Zazi ... where he was, what he was doing, where he had been, who he was with and where he was going," Kuby continued. "Now we know why they were so desperate and why they were so interested."

Zazi's Father Posts Bond

Zazi's father has also been charged with lying to investigators in the case. Zazi's father, Mohammed Zazi, was released on $50,000 unsecured bond Thursday, following a Denver federal court hearing.

He was to be subject to electronic monitoring but his new apartment does not have a "clean" phone line, so the monitoring won't be in place until Tuesday. A "clean" phone line is one that is not shared with the TV or cable, and is exclusively for the phone -- which is necessary for electronic monitoring.

Public defender Edward Harris complained that phone provider Comcast has refused to "unbundle" Internet and TV service from the phone line, making it suitable for the monitoring system.

"They couldn't just take all the extra features off the line, if they are promised to get those features back on the next line?" the judge asked.

Harris said no, and added the new phone-only line will take three days to install.

Zazi, his father and his relatives were evicted from their Aurora apartment, located in the Vistas at Saddle Ridge, near Smoky Hill Road and E-470. The eviction notice gave Zazi and others living at the apartment until Oct. 3 to "quit the premises." The notice only lists three people by name but mentions "other occupants."

The notice was given because there were a number of people living in the apartment who were not named on the lease.

Managers of the complex declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Najibullah Zazi's defense team said his lawyers were unaware of the eviction notice.

The judge denied to make Mohammed Zazi's new address public -- to protect him for his safety. With a Pashtun interpreter flown from New York in the courtroom, the judge also re-read the entire indictment, very deliberately and slowly, to make sure that Mohammed Zazi understood it. Mohammad Zazi has limited understanding of English.

"I understood," Mohammad Zazi told the judge after the charges were read and interpreted.

Mohammed Zazi's defense asked for a gag order in the case but it was denied because the judge said he wouldn't consider it during oral arguments, that the media should be allowed to weigh in on the case and the public should have access to this information.

Zazi's father on Thursday also turned in his passport and agreed to the conditions of his electronic monitoring, which forbids him to travel outside Colorado and to possess any firearms or weapons. He also has to report to his supervising office, and check in with pretrial services in person on Friday and Monday. Pretrial services will schedule a visit with him over the weekend because he is not currently on electronic monitoring.

He can only leave his home for work, religious services and to go to court.

His preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 9 at 1:30 p.m.

Our Call7 Investigators are continually digging and investigating this important story -- both in Colorado and in New York. If you have a tip on this story, contact the Call7 Investigators at 303-832-0777 or e-mail the Call7 Investigators.