Two Men Arrested Before Boarding Plane to Join Terror Group

By Jana Winter

Published November 20, 2015

The FBI arrested Two New Jersey men at JFK International Airport on Saturday night as they were preparing to board separate planes in an alleged terrorism plot tied to a radical Islamic group based in Somalia, FOXNews.com confirmed.

Mohamed Hamoud Alessa, 20, of North Bergen, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 26, of Elmwood Park were charged with conspiracy to commit international terrorism and were picked up by the FBI before boarding flights to join the Somali Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab, officials said. Both men are believed to be American citizens.

The two men were arrested following a years-long investigation and were charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism through a group tied to Usama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, a federal law enforcement source told FOXNews.com.

"FBI New York arrested two men at JFK in support of an ongoing investigation," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told FoxNews.com. "There was no threat at the airport. No additional information is available at this time."

Kolko said the two were arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation and could not provide further details.