2 New Jersey men arrested in terror plot probe on heels of Michigan arrests, sources say

By Mark Morales, Brynn Gingras, John Miller, CNN

(CNN) — Two New Jersey men were arrested in a terror plot probe on the heels of two arrests in Michigan in an alleged ISIS-inspired terrorist plot, multiple law enforcement officials close to the investigation said Wednesday.

The two men are said to have been part of the same online communication group as the ones who hatched the alleged plot in Michigan, one of the officials said. The forum was not necessarily to discuss and participate in the same plot, but to discuss their own separate schemes, the official said.

One of the suspects, a 19-year-old man from New Jersey, was taken into custody at Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday morning, the official said.

Authorities had been monitoring his movements and arrested him once they noticed he moved up his flight to Turkey, the official said. The act of going to the airport was seen as a move to further his plot, triggering the arrest, the official said.

Authorities routinely make these types of arrests after monitoring online chatter from targets they are zeroing in on, the official said.

The suspect ultimately planned to travel from Turkey to Syria, where he would attempt to join ISIS, the officials said.

The second suspect, a 20-year-old New Jersey man who was arrested at his home, had planned to travel to Syria with the other suspect, the officials said.

The US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey and the FBI declined comment.

A series of encrypted phone calls – secretly recorded by a confidential FBI source – tipped off federal agents that a group was allegedly planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Michigan on behalf of ISIS, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.

Mohmed Ali, 20, and Majed Mahmoud, 20, face charges of “receiving and transferring, and attempting and conspiring to transfer, firearms and ammunition knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the firearms and ammunition would be used to commit a Federal crime of terrorism,” according to the criminal complaint.

Federal officials have yet to charge a third person – a juvenile described throughout the complaint as Person 1 – in connection with the alleged plot.

But the complaint details how agents doggedly surveilled the alleged co-conspirators for two months as they visited multiple gun ranges and held late-night meetings in local parks during what authorities allege was preparation for a possible terrorist attack.

Then, based on what they believed to be references to a possible attack on Halloween, agents swooped in to seize the weapons and take the men into custody in the predawn hours of October 31.

According to an FBI affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, the agency began surveilling a man, described as “co-conspirator 1,” in 2024 as he traveled in the US and overseas.

In June, agents allegedly tracked the man’s phone to Dearborn, Michigan, and physical surveillance led them to Ali’s home there, where he stayed for two nights.

The following month, according to the FBI, the man joined a group call from overseas with five others – including an FBI confidential source, who recorded the meeting. Person 1, Mahmoud and Ali do not appear to have been part of this call.

During the call, the group allegedly discussed “traveling together to Syria to join ISIS” and co-conspirator 1 said they were “gonna die there … unless,” he told the group, “the Amir sends you to Paris for a 2015.”

A review of co-conspirator 1’s cellphone allegedly revealed he had “Person 1’s phone number saved in his phone under ‘Athari’ and ALI’s phone number saved in his phone as ‘Bukhari.’”

According to the complaint, one of the participants on the call also stated, “Athari and Bukhari said they were going to stay back and do the ‘same thing as France.’”

“Knowing Athari, it’s (the attack) probably going to be at like a club, a disco,” co-conspirator 1 said, according to the complaint.

The reference to Paris stood out to FBI counterterrorism experts. They concluded it was a thinly veiled nod to the coordinated ISIS-linked terrorist attacks that unfolded across Paris in November 2015. More than 130 people were killed in the attacks and scores more were wounded.

After studying the call, the FBI concluded an attack could be imminent and began keeping close tabs on Ali and Mahmoud.

In the predawn hours of October 31, FBI agents descended on the Detroit suburb where the men lived and detonated smoke bombs before storming into their homes. Both Ali and Mahmoud were arrested.

Mahmoud and Ali were shackled as they were escorted into court Monday, according to CNN reporters who attended the hearing. Both men acknowledged they had read the complaint against them and understood the charges.

Attorneys for both of the men briefly spoke to reporters after the hearing, but declined to comment.

A detention hearing for the defendants is scheduled for Monday.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Chelsea Bailey, Holly Yan, Jeff Winter and Leigh Waldman contributed to this report.