Al-Qaida has considered using trucks to smuggle nuclear material into the United States through Mexico, an Egyptian operative from the extremist group has told interrogators.

Sharif al-Masri, who was captured near Pakistan’s border with Iran and Afghanistan, has told interrogators of “al-Qaida’s interest in moving nuclear materials from Europe to either the U.S. or Mexico,” according to a report circulating among U.S. government officials, Time magazine reported Nov. 15.

Osama bin Laden’s network has considered plans to “smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the U.S.,” Masri said, according to the report, parts of which were read to Time.

Though unproven, Masri’s account has added to U. S. officials’ concerns about the Mexican border, the magazine said.

Truck monitoring mulled
U.S. and Mexican intelligence officials have also discussed reports from several al-Qaida detainees, saying that Mexico could potentially be used as an area “to acquire and stage chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material.”

U.S. officials are closely monitoring heavy trucks crossing the border, while Mexicans will watch flight schools and aviation facilities in Mexico.

Some senior U.S. officials are worried about the theft in southern California of a crop duster plane that was seen flying south toward Mexico two weeks ago. Though it is unclear whether the theft is connected to terrorism, a senior U.S. law enforcement official told Time crop dusters can be used to disperse toxic agents.