Lebanese man claiming Hezbollah ties arrested at US-Mexico border
22-year-old told agents he was trained by terrorist group and planned to make a bomb, according to reports
U.S. border officials apprehended a 22-year-old Lebanese national near El Paso, Texas on March 9th who allegedly told agents he was a member of the Hezbollah terrorist organization with plans to construct a bomb within the United States, according to an internal document obtained by the New York Post.
The document, which designated the arrest of Basel Bassel Ebbadi as a "Significant Arrest," states that Ebbadi made "terroristic threats" to personnel after being taken into custody by Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tactical Terrorism Response Team.
"Post Miranda, Basel Bassel EBBADI claimed membership to a foreign terrorist organization," the document reads. Two days later, when asked by medical staff about his intentions in the U.S., Ebbadi reportedly responded: "I'm going to try to make a bomb."
Ebbadi allegedly told officials he had trained for seven years with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militant group based in Lebanon, where his instruction focused on "jihad" and "killing people that was not Muslim." He claimed to have been involved in guarding the group's weapons caches and said he was ultimately planning to travel to New York.
The reported arrest prompted strong reactions from some conservative leaders, with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) stating on X: "Biden's open border is an open invitation for Iran-backed terrorists to infiltrate our homeland. This will only get worse until Biden secures the border."
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Border Patrol has officially confirmed the details surrounding Ebbadi's apprehension. Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates as a foreign terrorist organization, has not commented on the matter.
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