Four ISIS Jihadists Arrested in Central America Heading for US Border
Suspects captured in Nicaragua after entering country illegally via Panama and Costa Rica
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Four suspected ISIS jihadists have been arrested in Central America as they were heading to the United States' Southern Border, according to reports.
The group of Islamic State members was captured in Nicaragua by the Nicaraguan military earlier this week after entering the country illegally via Panama and Costa Rica.
The US Government issued a warning after three men with ties to ISIS were believed to have entered the Central American state.
American intelligence agencies fear the group of Egyptian and Iraqi nationals was planning to travel to the US border after sneaking into Mexico.
They were arrested on Tuesday morning along with a fourth member of the cell.
Iraq nationals Ahmed Ghanim Mohamed Al Jubury, 41 and Mustafa Ali Mohamed Yaoob, 29, along with Egyptians Mohamed Ibrahim, 33, and Mahmoud Samy Eissa 26, were all detained in Cardenas, a city in the state of Rivas.
The suspected jihadists crossed through an uninhabited passage known as La Guasimada located between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, according to Nicaraguan outlet La Nacion.
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According to the Daily Mail, they were turned over to Costa Rican authorities on Tuesday night and were transferred to a detention center in Los Lagos de Heredia.
Officials in Costa Rica are currently investigating the men and will likely deport them to their respective countries.
Ibrahim, Al Jubury and Yaoob were first detected by Panama's immigration system on May 12 and spent nearly a month there before arriving in Costa Rica.
It's unknown when and how they entered Panama.
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The Costa Rican security ministry was made aware of the three men's presence in the country on June 9.
Yaoob was detected in Costa Rica on June 13.
However, the police consulted its database and found that the men did not pose any danger.
"We were alerted in the middle of June with details that profiled them as dangerous," said Steven Madden, director of the Migration Police, according to Costa Rican outlet La Prensa Libre.
"The Migration Police followed security protocol and we passed the information along to the American Embassy and the information was ruled out."
Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado backed the assessment of his immigration officials and said that the intelligence provided by the U.S. was thoroughly checked.
