Your Federal Men in Action

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports:

Acting under the authority of the Patriot Act, the [FBI] agents had obtained a search warrant that allowed them to clandestinely enter the property, search for evidence and not tell anyone about it until the government or a judge was ready to let the owners know they’d been there.

The story describes the execution of a "sneak & peak" warrant, a particularly useful technique when the bosses and accomplices of the target can be expected to destroy evidence and themselves run for cover at the first sign of attention from the authorities. A critical tool when the ultimate object of the investigation is to prevent some atrocity, or to bag the individuals actually responsible, rather than their underlings.

And what was this particular sneak & peak, Patriot Act search related to? Terrorism? Foreign intelligence? Organized crime?

Not exactly.