Authorities Nab 8 Suspected Terrorists With Ties to ISIS in Multi-City Sting Operation

Eight Tajikistan nationals with ties to ISIS were busted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force in three major cities, a federal source confirmed to Fox News.

The arrests took place in New York City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia in recent days, according to the source.

All eight Tajikistan nationals crossed the U.S. southern border illegally, and according to a federal source familiar with the sting, no derogatory information was initially flagged with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during processing.

The suspected terrorists were “fully vetted” and nothing was flagged, according to Fox News’ federal source.

Fox News’ source said after the suspected terrorists were released into the U.S., derogatory information was flagged with national security concerns, including the individual’s ties to ISIS.

The sting operation was first reported by the New York Post’s Jennie Taer.

According to Taer’s report, part of the investigation featured a wiretap which revealed one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs.

“Remember the Boston marathon [bombing]? I’m afraid something like that might happen again or worse,” one of the sources told The Post.

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This all comes as FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee last week that there is an increasing concern of a potential coordinated attack in the U.S., similar to the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) attack in March at a concert hall in Russia.

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