Free Republic

Member of Al Qaida Linked Group Caught on US-Mexico Border A man from Bangladesh was arrested last month attempting to illegally cross into the United Stats from Mexico.Fakhrul Islam was apprehended with 13 other undocumented migrants, including a member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, as they sought to enter the United States by crossing the Rio Grande River near Brownsville, Texas on December 4, the newspaper La Jornada reported.The arrest has raised new concerns among US security officials about the use of the Mexican border as a transit route for terrorists entering the United States.Mr. Islam reportedly admitted to having...

December 10, 2004 — Last week’s arrest of a Bangladeshi immigrant trying to illegally enter the country has federal authorities concerned over the vulnerability of the U.S.-Mexico border to infiltration by terrorists. Federal court records show Fakhrul Islam, age unknown, was arrested Dec. 4 with 13 other undocumented immigrants as they tried to pass through a wooded area east of Brownsville. The records said a man later identified by Border Patrol agents as a member of the Mara Salvatruchas gang was traveling in the same group as Islam. The Central American gang has alleged links to al-Qaida. “This is alarming,”...