Ahmed Kauser Mohammed and Mohamed Hussein Said were arrested and extradited to South Florida for allegedly supporting terrorist regimes in Syria and Somalia, a press release for the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida indicates. Mohammed, 30, and Said, 25, were booked into a South Florida detention facility on charges of conspiring to provide, and attempting to provide, material support to three separately designated foreign terrorist organizations. It is unclear whether they qualified for bail bond given the nature of the charges. The press did not specify a criminal defense lawyer for the defendants.
According to reports, Mohammed is a U.S. citizen who lives in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Said is reportedly from Kenya and has residency in Nairobi and Mombasa. Based on reports, both Mohammed and Said have ties to South Florida and perhaps the Miami-Dade County area. The defendants are set to appear in a Miami court later this week, sources say.
According to the indictment, Mohammed and Said worked together to "provide money and recruits to al-Qa'ida, AQI/al-Nusrah Front in Syria and al-Shabaab in Somalia," the indictment says. As part of the alleged terrorist support, the indictment alleges that "Mohammed sent a series of wire transfers to Said for the purpose of supporting al-Shabaab," as well as to a conspirator "whom he believed was a fundraiser, recruiter, and supplier for al-Qa'ida and AQI/al-Nusrah Front for the purpose of supporting al-Qa'ida and AQI/al-Nusrah Front."
Mohammed and Said conspired to support al-Qa'ida and AQI/al-Nusrah Front by "recruiting and moving experienced al-Shabaab fighters to the conflict in Syria," the indictment says. There does not appear to be any indication that the alleged terrorism funding by the defendants had any connection to threats directly against the United States.