False alarm terror alert from a couple years ago; canister of gravel?

[Revtim]

I’ve been trying to find something I obviously do not remember enough detail of to do proper searches for.

Not long after 9/11, there were reports of (probably) a middle eastern guy found with canister of something, and there was a lot of media scare-mongering before it found to be something harmless, like gravel perhaps. I also want to say maybe it was magnesium.

I haven’t been able to come up with anything with Google searches, so it was likely neither gravel nor magnesium. But it did turn out to be nothing to worry about.

Anybody remember this incident better?

[Q.E.D]

Are you possibly thinking of this earlier 1997 incident? The story:

The year 1997 proved to be a busy one for the JTTF, providing new examples of the benefits the task force concept brings to investigations. In addition to the Empire State Building shooting, the year witnessed a terrorist threat in New York from an unconventional weapon. In March 1997, the suspect of a mail-order fraud case invited the investigating detectives into his residence. The cluttered house contained a large cache of chemicals, gasoline, and fuel additives. The suspect told investigators that he used these products to make “super fuel” for the model airplanes that he raced. However, he offered no explanation for the far more ominous canister clearly marked “Sarin Gas” that the detectives also found in the house. They immediately exited the house and called for hazardous materials support personnel.

[Revtim]

No, I don’t think that’s it. Thanks though.

The incident I’m thinking of took place after 9/11.

[Revtim]

Anybody else?