Washington Times, 6 June 2010: Two New Jersey men were arrested late Saturday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York as they sought to board flights to seek terror training from al Qaeda-linked jihadists in Somalia. Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, of North Bergen, N.J., and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24, of Elmwood Park, N.J., were arrested by FBI agents and later charged with conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap people outside the United States.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court by prosecutors at the U.S. attorneys office in New Jersey, Mr. Alessa and Mr. Almonte were arrested as they attempted to board separate jets bound for Cairo on their way to Somalia to join with the terrorist group Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin, also known as al-Shabaab. Both men planned to make their way to Somalia by boat, authorities said. . . .
Terror Raids at JFK Airport Net American Alleged Terror Plotters Headed for Somalia; Operation ‘Arabian Knights’ Used NYPD Cop to Infiltrate Suspects’ Circle (ABC News, 6 June 2010)
. . . The raids and arrests were the latest developments in an ongoing terror probe dubbed “Arabian Knights” that began in 2006 and used an undercover New York City police officer to infiltrate the group. The officer kept tabs on the men arrested right up until they purchased their airline tickets for separate flights to Egypt. “As in gun trafficking and narcotics investigations, the NYPD cannot acknowledge publicly individual undercover police officers who have infiltrated suspects. Nonetheless, we are indebted to them,” New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. . . .
STRATFOR, 3 June 2010: On the afternoon of Sunday, May 30, an Aeromexico flight from Paris to Mexico City was forced to land in Montreal after authorities discovered that a man who was on the U.S. no-fly list was aboard. The aircraft was denied permission to enter U.S. airspace, and the aircraft was diverted to Trudeau International Airport in Montreal. The man, a Somali named Abdirahman Ali Gaall, was removed from the plane and arrested by Canadian authorities on an outstanding U.S. warrant. After a search of all the remaining passengers and their baggage, the flight was allowed to continue to its original destination.
Gaall reportedly has U.S. resident-alien status and is apparently married to an American or Canadian woman. Media reports also suggest that he is connected with the Somali jihadist group al Shabaab. Gaall was reportedly deported from Canada to the United States on June 1, and we are unsure of the precise charges brought against him by the U.S. government, but more information should be forthcoming once he has his detention hearing. From the facts at hand, however, it appears likely that he has been charged for his connection with al Shabaab, perhaps with a crime such as material support to a designated terrorist organization.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a lookout to authorities in Texas, warning that another Somali purportedly linked to al Shabaab was believed to be in Mexico and was allegedly planning to attempt to cross the border into the United States. This lookout appears to be linked to a U.S. indictment in March charging another Somali man with running a large-scale smuggling ring bringing Somalis into the United States through Latin America.
Taken together, these incidents highlight the increased attention the U.S. government has given to al Shabaab and the concern that the Somali militant group could be planning to conduct attacks in the United States. Although many details pertaining to the Gaall case remain unknown at this time, these incidents involving Somalis, Mexico and possible militant connections — and the obvious U.S. concern — provide an opportunity to discuss the dynamics of Somali immigration as it relates to the U.S. border with Mexico, as well as the possibility that al Shabaab has decided to target the United States. . . . .
Fox News, 26 May 2010: The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami. . . .
. . . . The DHS alert was issued to police and sheriff’s deputies in Houston, asking them to keep their eyes open for a Somali man named Mohamed Ali who is believed to be in Mexico preparing to make the illegal crossing into Texas. Officials believe Ali has ties to Al Shabaab, a Somali terrorist organization aligned with Al Qaeda, said Joan Neuhaus Schaan, the homeland security and terrorism fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, who has seen the alert.
An indictment was unsealed in Texas federal court earlier this month that revealed that a Somali man, Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane, led a human smuggling ring that brought East Africans, including Somalis with ties to terror groups, from Brazil and across the Mexican border and into Texas.
In a separate case, Anthony Joseph Tracy, of Virginia, who admitted to having ties to Al Shabaab, is currently being prosecuted for his alleged role in an international ring that illegally brought more than 200 Somalis across the Mexican border. Prosecutors say Tracy used his Kenya-based travel business as a cover to fraudulently obtain Cuban travel documents for the Somalis. The smuggled Somalis are believed to have spread out across the United States and remain mostly at large, court records show.
Somalis are classified by border and immigration officials as “special interest” — illegal immigrants who get caught trying to cross the Mexican border into the U.S. who come from countries that are considered a high threat to the U.S., Neuhaus Schaan explained. . . .
FBI, 18 May 2010: Abduwali Abdukhadir Musé, the Somali pirate who led the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama container ship in the Indian Ocean, pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to two felony counts of hijacking maritime vessels, two felony counts of kidnapping, and two felony counts of hostage taking. Musé’s guilty plea arose from his participation in the April 8, 2009, hijacking of the Maersk Alabama container ship in the Indian Ocean, and the subsequent taking of the captain of the ship as a hostage, as well as his participation in the hijacking of two other vessels in late March and early April of 2009 and related hostage-taking, announced Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
According to the superseding indictment to which Musé pleaded guilty, the criminal complaint previously filed against Musé on April 21, 2009, and statements made today during the guilty plea proceeding before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska:
In March 2009, Musé, and others armed with firearms, boarded a ship (Ship-1) as it was navigating in the Indian Ocean. After boarding Ship-1, Musé and others threatened the captain of Ship-1 with a firearm; seized control of Ship-1; and held the captain and the crew of Ship-1 hostage on board.
While on board Ship-1, Musé pointed a gun at one of the Ship-1 hostages and threatened to kill him. In addition, Musé showed one of the hostages what appeared to be an improvised explosive device (IED). Musé placed the IED in the vicinity of the hostage, and indicated that if the authorities came it would explode and the hostage would be killed.
In April 2009, Musé and others left Ship-1 on a small boat (Skiff). When the Skiff returned to Ship-1, Ship-1 and the Skiff were made to rendezvous with another ship (Ship-2) that was then navigating in the Indian Ocean. After Ship-1 and the Skiff arrived in the vicinity of Ship-2, the captain of Ship-1 was ordered to pull Ship-1 up to Ship-2. Ship-1 was then attached to Ship-2. Beginning on or about April 2009, Musé and others held hostage, on board Ship-2, both the captain and the crew of Ship-1 and the captain and the crew of Ship-2.
In April 2009, Musé and three other pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama after shooting at the ship from their own boat. Each of the four pirates who boarded the Maersk Alabama, including Musé, was armed with a gun. Once on board the Maersk Alabama, Musé, who conducted himself as the leader of the pirates, demanded, among other things, that the ship be stopped. Several hours after boarding the Maersk Alabama, the pirates took a life boat from the ship, on which they held the captain of the ship as a hostage.
Musé and the other three pirates then held the captain hostage on the life boat from April 8 to April 12, 2009. During this period, in radio communications between the pirates and the United States Navy, the pirates threatened to kill the captain if they were not provided with safe passage away from the scene. On April 12, 2009, Musé requested and was permitted to board the USS Bainbridge, a United States Navy missile destroyer that had arrived on the scene. On the USS Bainbridge, Musé continued to demand for himself and the other pirates safe passage from the scene in exchange for the captain’s release. On April 12, 2009, Musé was taken into custody by the U.S. Navy.
Musé is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Preska on October 19, 2010.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today, Abduwali Abdukhadir Musé admitted his leadership role in the armed hijacking of an American-flagged vessel and two international ships in the Indian Ocean. The five-day Maersk hijacking and the events leading up to it make clear that modern-day piracy is a crime against the international community and a form of terrorism on the high seas. Pirates who attack U.S. ships overseas and take American hostages should know that they will face stiff justice in an American courtroom. I would like to recognize the extraordinary collective efforts of local, federal, and international law enforcement and pay special thanks to the men and women of the U.S. Navy without whose bravery today’s result would not have been possible.”
Mr. Bharara praised the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force — which principally consists of agents of the FBI and detectives of the New York City Police Department — and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for their extraordinary efforts in the investigation of this case. Mr. Bharara thanked the U.S. Navy for its cooperation throughout the case, and particularly the Office of the Judge Advocate General for its invaluable assistance. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, the Department of State, specifically the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Nairobi, and the Department of Defense. Mr. Bharara also expressed his gratitude to the Government of Kenya and Maersk Line, Limited, for their cooperation and assistance.
The case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan R. McGuire and Jeffrey Brown are in charge of the prosecution.
FBI, 23 April 2010: Federal grand juries in the Eastern District of Virginia have returned two separate indictments charging 11 men from Somalia with engaging in piracy and related offenses pertaining to attacks on two Navy ships. The indictments charge separate attacks by separate groups on the U.S.S. Nicholas and the U.S.S. Ashland.
Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; George Venizelos, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office; Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; and Mark Russ, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in Norfolk, made the announcement.
“Since the earliest days of this country, piracy has been a serious crime,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Piracy threatens human lives and disrupts international commerce. When pirates attack U.S. vessels by force, they must face severe consequences.”
“The Naval Criminal Investigative Service provides unique forward deployed law enforcement capabilities to the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Strategy,” said NCIS Special Agent in Charge Russ. “This case demonstrates the working relationship between uniformed military forces and NCIS—which is a civilian agency—and our federal partners to ensure cooperative security and stability across the maritime domain.” The two indictments were returned earlier this week and remained sealed until the defendants made their initial appearances before a magistrate judge in Norfolk.
According to the first six-count indictment returned on April 20, 2010, five men—Mohammed Modin Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali, Abdi Wali Dire, Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher, and Abdi Mohammed Umar—left Somalia in search of a merchant ship to pirate. They allegedly used two smaller vessels loaded with assault weapons and a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that served as attack boats, along with a larger ship full of supplies.
This indictment alleges that on March 31, 2010, Hasan, Ali, and Dire boarded one of these smaller vessels and set out to pirate and plunder what they believed to be a merchant ship. Ali and Dire each allegedly carried an assault weapon, and Hasan allegedly carried an RPG. The indictment charges that they opened fire on the ship, which they later discovered was the Nicholas.
The remaining two individuals charged in the indictment—Gurewardher and Umar—remained onboard the large ship to maintain that ship during the alleged attack.
In a second five-count indictment, six men— Maxamad Cali Saciid, Mohammed Abdi Jama, Jaamac Ciidle, Abdicasiis Cabaase, Abdirasaq Abshir, and Mahamed Farraah Hassan—were charged with piracy-related offenses involving the U.S.S. Ashland on or about April 10, 2010. All 11 men were charged with piracy, which carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison. In addition, the indictment also charges them with the following:
- Attack to plunder a vessel, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
- Assault with a dangerous weapon in the special maritime jurisdiction, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
- Conspiracy to use firearms during a crime of violence, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
- Use of a firearm during a crime of violence, which carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison if convicted of one count. The five men charged in the indictment involving the U.S.S. Nicholas face two firearm counts, which would carry an additional minimum of 25 years—to equal 35 years—in prison if convicted of both counts.
The U.S.S. Nicholas is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate homeported in Norfolk, Va. The U.S.S. Ashland is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship homeported in Little Creek, Va. This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s New York Field Office and Norfolk Field Office and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
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