One Latino Implicated in al-Qaeda Terrorist Plot
Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, 21, of Ontario and born in Mexico is one of four young men from Southern California that have been apprehended for planning a terrorist attack in the U.S. and overseas.
Santana Vidriales, Ralph Deleon, 23, and Arifeen David Gojali, 21, were recruited by Sohiel Omar Kabir, 34, to the militant teaching of infamous terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. Santa Vidriales and Deleon converted to Islam in 2010.
The men were planning on going to Afghanistan so they could join al-Qaeda and the Taliban. They came to the attention of federal agents from their online discussions of ‘violent jihad’ and Islamic extremism.
Deleon and Santana Vidriales were taped by FBI agents admitting to their jihadist hopes. Santana Vidriales went as far as admitting to his desire of destroying a military base. Both men looked forward to becoming “martyrs” for the cause. At the time of their arrest, Kabir was making arrangements for Deleon and Santana Vidriales to travel to Afghanistan to meet his alleged terrorist network.
Kabir is a former member of the U.S. Air Force from Pomona, California. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen, while Santana Vidriales and Deleon are permanent U.S. residents. Gojali, the last recruit, is a U.S. citizen.
The federal complaint against the four men was unveiled yesterday by the FBI. They are charged with plotting to bomb U.S. government facilities and for planning to engage in ‘violent jihad’ in Yemen and Afghanistan.
This article was first published in Hispanically Speaking News.
[Photo by fotosinteresantes]