FBI Thwarts 2019 ISIS Plot: Tucson Duo Found Guilty

Two Somali men were arrested at Tucson International Airport as part of an FBI sting operation five years ago. On Thursday, they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support for a terrorist organization. Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 26, and Abdi Yemeni Hussein, 25, faced U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps, who found them guilty of conspiring to support and provide resources to ISIS. They will be sentenced on October 11, 2024.

The arrests stemmed from a nearly year-long undercover investigation by the FBI, which started in mid-August 2018. Mohamed, a lawful permanent resident and Somali refugee, initiated contact with an FBI operative posing as an ISIS supporter on social media. Mohamed repeatedly expressed his admiration for the terrorist group, indicating his desire to join as a “beheading guy” in Syria.

During their communications, Mohamed expressed a desire to perform jihad and voiced violent intentions. In December 2018, Mohamed met an FBI undercover agent in Tucson. By March 2019, Mohamed introduced Hussein to these clandestine meetings and discussed possible terrorist activities if they couldn’t join ISIS.

The two men began making travel arrangements, even purchasing tickets to Cairo. The FBI monitored their preparations and intercepted them just before they boarded their flight at Tucson International Airport.

Both men submitted plea agreements. Mohamed confessed to seeking ISIS supporters online, expressing his violent intentions, and plotting to join the terrorist group in Syria. Hussein admitted to discussing potential attacks in the United States if he couldn’t join ISIS overseas.

Despite ISIS losing significant territory by 2019, the group continued to launch terror attacks globally, maintaining thousands of fighters. Hussein discussed plans for attacks that he claimed would be more significant than those on September 11, 2001.

Before traveling, both men sold their possessions and gathered over $10,000 for their journey. They planned to link up with ISIS after traveling through Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula. However, their plans were thwarted by federal agents as they reached the departure gate.

A conviction for this conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Following their incarceration, both men will be deported to Somalia. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force led the investigation, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section handling the prosecution.