Terror suspect arrested in New York

New York Police Department counterterrorism officials say they were first alerted to the activities of Jose Pimentel, accused of plotting to detonate pipe bombs in the city, about two-and-a-half years ago, the CNN reports.

One official told CNN they were notified about Pimentel's activities by law enforcement sources in upstate New York in May 2009. By then, the official says, he was already "radicalized."

The NYPD used an informant to make contact with Pimentel, to befriend him and monitor his activities.

They wanted to get a sense of his intentions, to "wash him out," as the official put it.

According to a senior counterterrorism source, Pimentel had expressed a desire to go to Yemen at some point in 2010, and sent an email to the al Qaeda cleric and propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in September of this year. He did not receive a reply, the source said.

The official told CNN that Pimentel was prolific online - maintaining a website called True Islam.