LA Suspects With ISIS Ties Arrested By Terrorist Taskforce: FBI

LOS ANGELES, CA — An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested eight people with ISIS terror organization ties across major American cities, including Los Angeles, this month, according to multiple reports.

All eight had entered the United States at the Southern border and had passed criminal background checks and government screening, the Associated Press reported, citing unnamed sources.

The people are reportedly Russian nationals from Tajikistan, who arrived in the United States in the spring of 2023 and 2024. In addition to Los Angeles, some suspects were detained in Philadelphia and New York following a months-long investigation.

According to The New York Post, which was the first to report the arrests, six Russian nationals hailing from Tajikistan were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a coordinated sting operation in the three cities. The arrests came after ICE was contacted by the FBI. NBC News reported that two other people who were part of the same group were also arrested after being under surveillance for "several months" by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Sources told the Post that a wiretap revealed one of the suspects was talking about bombs.

Sources said all eight of the suspects had their backgrounds checked when they crossed the border, and all of them came back clean, prompting officials to release them all with future court dates. NBC reported that two of the men entered the United States in spring 2023, and at least one of them used the CBP One app, which allows migrants to scheduled appointments for asylum claims.

“Over the last few days, ICE agents arrested several non-citizens pursuant to immigration authorities. The actions were carried out in close coordination with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces. The individuals arrested are detained in ICE custody pending removal proceedings," the Department of Homeland Security and FBI announced in a joint statement obtained by Patch."As the FBI and DHS have recently described in public and partner bulletins, the U.S. has been in a heightened threat environment. The FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security. ”

Sources told NBC News that the Terrorism Task Force had been aware of a potential terror threat originating in central Europe, and it began monitoring the group of now-arrested suspects as part of its investigation. The sources said no official link has been made between the suspects and any specific terror plot, but they were arrested due to potential ties to ISIS.

The Department of Homeland Security vets people entering the country at the southern border, a process that includes searches against the FBI's terrorist screening database, criminal information, Interpol Notices, and more. It is unusual for known terrorists to attempt to enter the United States through the southern border.

The U.S. has been in a heightened threat environment all year. In September, Homeland Security released the 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment, which continues to identify a high risk of foreign and domestic terrorism in 2024.

In May the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning that terrorist organizations and their supporters might target LGBTQ events during Pride Month.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.