(Analyst's note: Extremely troubling.)
Somalis with ties to a terrorist organization are believed to be plotting to illegally enter the United States after being mistakenly released from custody in Mexico, a confidential federal law enforcement report said.
The report, obtained by the Washington Examiner, said that 23 Somalis who entered Mexico illegally earlier in the year were caught there, then released in late January.
Only 16 of the 23 people were identified by both Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials, while the "other 7 are unknown," the report says.
Included in the group is Mohamed Osman Noor, 35, of Somalia, who U.S. officials suspect has strong ties to Al-Shabaab Mujahideen, an Islamist insurgency group in the ongoing war in Somalia with ties to al Qaeda.
The report was written by an intelligence official with the Laredo Sector Border Intelligence Center, a joint federal task force under the Department of Homeland Security that operates on the border.
"All were in Mexican Immigration custody due to illegal entry into Mexico and were released on January 21, 2010," it said. "All agents are reminded to maintain a heightened level of awareness and emphasize officer safety tactics when encountering individuals at all times. All agents are highly encouraged to wear ballistic armor, utilize long arms and work in groups when responding to illicit activity along the immediate border."
According to the report, "Five of the subjects are possibly heading towards the Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas areas. ... The Laredo Sector should be cognizant of the high possibility that Noor and the other subjects may attempt to enter illegally into the United States through the Laredo Sector area of responsibility."
Mexican officials could not be reached late Monday for comment.
Somalia has become a hotbed of al Qaeda-related terrorist activity since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. It is being closely monitored by U.S. and foreign intelligence services.
Indications are that "some al Qaeda terrorista have undoubtedly ended up in Somalia and Yemen," said a U.S. counterterrorism official.
A former U.S. government official who worked closely with Mexican authorities on border issues said he is "legitmately concerned of these suspected terrorists coming into the U.S. through leveraging and exploiting the many gaps along our southwest border."
He added, "Something must have gone wrong internally for these persons to have been released by Mexican authorities. If you can move narcotics and other contraband through the porous border, you can't tell me they don't have the ability to move terrorists as well."
