NEW YORK, USA (AP) – The investigation into the terror plot to bomb Kennedy International Airport is widening beyond the four men in custody, with more suspects sought outside the US for their roles in targeting the city’s worldwide transportation hub, a law enforcement official said yesterday.

The defendants identified last weekend were “just a piece of it”, the official told The Associated Press. “We are definitely seeking more players. We are targeting others overseas.”

The official familiar with the case spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of not being authorised to speak publicly. The official declined to provide details about the possible suspects, or in what countries they are being sought.

Law enforcement officials, through the use of an informant, were able to undermine the plot in its early stages.

The four suspects made trips to the airport, took video and photographs, drew diagrams and collected information. They then hoped to shop their information to individuals with the capacity to pull off their stated plan of causing “greater destruction than the September 11 attacks,” the official said.

According to court documents, the men sought the help of Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, or JAM, a Muslim organisation based in Trinidad – a known violent group involved in killings, kidnappings and weapons trafficking over the past two decades. The group staged a coup attempt in 1990, storming the Trinidad Parliament building and taking the prime minister hostage.

Authorities said that if the men had won support from JAM or anyone else with the right resources, the plans could have been carried out in a short period of time.

“If they had gotten lined up with the right people with the right resources and right expertise, the timeline would have been short,” the official said. “They could have done great damage.”

But some experts have called the plot far-fetched, saying it would have been virtually impossible to achieve the kind of destruction the suspects envisioned.

Alleged mastermind Russell deFreitas, a US citizen from Guyana, hatched the plan when he worked as a cargo employee at JFK 10 years ago, authorities said. He is being held in New York on conspiracy charges. His alleged co-conspirators, two citizens of Guyana and one from Trinidad, are in jail in Trinidad and were expected to fight extradition to New York.

DeFreitas’s attorney, Drew Carter, was out of town and did not immediately return phone messages.