NEW YORK -- New York City Police and the FBI raided homes in New Jersey late Saturday night and arrested two men at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport Saturday as they attempted to board a flight to Egypt on their way to link up with a Somalia based terror group.
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.
The two men arrested are expected to appear in federal court in Newark on Monday. Officials noted that there was no immediate threat from the plotters who were allegedly planning to link up with Somalia-based Islamic terror group, Al Shabaab. The organization, whose name means “Movement of Warrior Youth” controls large portions of Somalia.
The two men arrested were identified by authorities as Mohamed Hamoud Alessa, of North Bergen, New Jersey and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, of Elmwood Park, New Jersey. Both are believed to be US citizens.
Raiders surrounded a home in Elmwwod Park where Almonte is believed to have stayed at around 11 p.m., after sealing off the block.
Other agents and police officers from New York City and New Jersey raided the North Bergen Alessa.
Several members of al-Shabaab are American or have lived in America. One of the most senior leaders, Omar Hammami, now known as al Amriki (the American), was born and raised in Alabama, the child of a Syrian Muslim father and an American Christian mother.
Last year, federal authorities in Minnesota charged 14 men with allegedly attempting to get young Americans to join al Shabaab.
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Source:-ABC News

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