BROOKLINE (AFP) -- Federal agents arrested three people suspected of funneling money to the failed Times Square car bomber during a series of raids across the U.S. northeast.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said “at least three arrests” had been made in searches across the region and that the suspects were linked to Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-born U.S. citizen alleged to have planted the May 1 bomb.
“These searches are the product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation since the attempted Times Square bombing,” Holder said.
Officials stressed that the arrests were made on immigration charges and did not indicate any new threat.
“These individuals have not been charged with any terrorism violations, but are being held for alleged administrative immigration violations,” Department of Justice spokesman Dean Boyd told AFP.
However, Holder described the development as a “significant step” in the probe into Shahzad, who was arrested May 3 as he attempted to fly from New York to Dubai.
“There is at least a basis to believe that one of the things that they did was to provide him with funds and so we are trying to trace back to see what exactly was the nature of those transactions, what was the purpose of the sharing of that -- of those monies,” Holder said.
President Barack Obama, meanwhile, made a surprise visit to the police headquarters in New York to praise officers for their effectiveness in tracking down Shahzad.
“I know folks are busy but I just wanted to come by and say thank you,” Obama said.
“I’m telling the mayor and the commissioner that the work that NYPD does in coordination with state local federal officials when it comes to counterterrorism is a model,” he said.
Officials were looking into whether those funds could have been funneled to Shahzad as part of his alleged plot or innocently in a separate transaction.
Shahzad paid 1,300 dollars for the Nissan SUV he allegedly packed with propane tanks, gasoline, fertilizer and a malfunctioning, home-made detonator.
The Connecticut resident, who had left his job and was bankrupt, with his house in foreclosure, possessed a second vehicle allegedly parked as a get-away car and was renting an apartment.
Officials would not say where the operations took place, but U.S. media cited locations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, in addition to two raids in Massachusetts.
In the Boston suburb of Brookline, police, FBI and immigration officers swarmed over a Mobil gasoline station, an AFP reporter said. Helicopters hovered over the quiet street and police taped off the facility.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were among those present, along with uniformed and plainclothes personnel.
Another raid took place at a home in Watertown, west of Boston.
Local resident Vincent Lacerra described dramatic scenes as FBI agents brandishing weapons yelled for his neighbor to surrender.
“I heard a loud shout: 'FBI, FBI, get your hands up!' They screamed at the top of their lungs,” Lacerra told AFP.
“There were 15 to 20 FBI agents wearing bullet proof vests. It looked like they had shotguns. They had long barrels,” he said.
Authorities have been interrogating Shahzad since his arrest at JFK Airport in New York, where he had boarded a Dubai-bound plane only minutes from receiving clearance for take-off.