Six Russian Nationals with Suspected ISIS Ties Arrested in Coordinated U.S. Sting Operation: Report

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Six Russian nationals hailing from Tajikistan were arrested over the past week in a coordinated sting operation spanning Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia.

The arrests, carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were prompted by a warning from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the individuals’ suspected ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the New York Post reports.

Two ICE sources disclosed to The Post that the investigation involved a wiretap, which revealed one of the now-arrested individuals discussing bombs, raising concerns about a potential terror plot on U.S. soil. “Remember the Boston Marathon [bombing]? I’m afraid something like that might happen again or worse,” one of the sources confided.

The target subjected to the wiretap had previously been released by federal authorities at the southern border, with a court date set for next year. However, new information has since emerged indicating potential links to ISIS, prompting action by law enforcement agencies.

In a joint statement to The Post, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI confirmed the arrests, stating, “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 FBI and DHS will continue working around the clock with our partners to identify, investigate, and disrupt potential threats to national security.”

The arrests come on the heels of warnings from FBI Director Chris Wray about the possibility of ISIS terror plots being staged on U.S. soil and the group’s potential exploitation of the southern border. In April, Wray cautioned lawmakers about a possible “coordinated attack” in the U.S. following an ISIS-K attack on a concert hall in Moscow that claimed 145 lives and left hundreds wounded. The perpetrators of the Moscow attack were citizens of Tajikistan.

“Our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Wray told a House Appropriations subcommittee. “But now, increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall a couple weeks ago.”

ISIS-K, an extreme offshoot of the Islamic State militant group founded in 2014, has primarily focused its efforts on Russia. However, multiple Western leaders have cautioned about the group’s ability to launch attacks in Europe and America.

The FBI director had previously shared his concerns with the Senate Intelligence Committee about a human smuggling operation at the southern border with ties to terrorists from ISIS-affiliated groups. “I want to be a little bit careful how far I can go in open session, but there is a particular network that, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about and that we’ve been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating,” Wray said in response to a question from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

This is not the first time individuals with alleged terrorists have been released into the country.

In one instance, Mohammad Kharwin, 48, illegally entered the U.S. near San Ysidro, Calif., in March 2023 and was released into the country. It wasn’t until a year later that the FBI notified ICE that Kharwin was a suspected member of the U.S.-designated foreign terror group Hezb-e-Islami, or HIG. Kharwin was rearrested on April 11 and remains in federal custody.

Border agents have expressed concerns to The Post that others may have slipped through the cracks due to insufficient time for effective screening. “What you’re seeing now is only gonna get worse,” one Border Patrol agent recently told The Post. “ICE probably has a list of people they need to go after.”