Lori Hickey

Authorities arrested U.S.-born and Muslim convert Marcos Alonso Zea (25) in his Brentwood, Long Island home Friday on terror-related charges stemming from a nearly two-year investigation. He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), attempting to provide material support to terrorists and obstruction/attempted obstruction of justice. He allegedly conspired to wage jihad against perceived enemies of Islam in Yemen, including the Yemeni government. In January 2012, Zea was stopped by customs authorities in London on a trip from New York City to Yemen. British authorities sent Zea back to the U.S., and New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force opened an investigation. Since then, Zea was found to be supporting another individual from Babylon, Long Island in his own attempts to travel to Yemen to wage jihad. The investigation also obtained terrorist materials on hard drives used by Zea, including AQAP’s English-language propaganda magazine Inspire and an al Qaeda produced video of an attack on Western military personnel in Iraq.

A few months after returning home, Zea began helping an alleged co-conspirator, Justin Kaliebe (18), travel to Yemen to engage in jihad. In a recorded conversation between Zea and Kaliebe that occurred in August 2012, Zea provided advice on how to evade electronic surveillance and bragged about the lies he told to authorities in the UK. Additionally, Kaliebe unknowingly told undercover agents that he had tried for two years to travel abroad to wage jihad. Zea gave Kaliebe money a few days before his January 2013 trip from New York City to Oman, but Kaliebe was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Kaliebe later pled guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to terrorists and one count of attempting to provide material support to AQAP. Kaliebe’s sentencing is scheduled for December 6. Zea learned he was under investigation in April 2013, and he reached out to an associate to erase three hard drives, including one on his home computer. However, investigators had obtained the hard drives and found the violent Islamic extremist materials. Zea has pleaded not guilty to his charges and is being detained without bail.

The MSA Research and Intelligence Team has been following this situation closely, and has identified the following implications:
  • The case of two individuals from Long Island who attempted to wage jihad alongside AQAP in Yemen highlights the continued threat posed by homegrown extremists. 
     
    • The investigation by authorities was initially prompted by Zea’s suspicious travel.
       
    • More recent recruits have been directed to avoid suspicious travel, and instead utilize online materials for training. 
       
    • AQAP for example, through Inspire magazine, attempts to radicalize and recruit Western individuals to carry out their own attacks at home. 
       
    • In this incident, there were no indications that Zea and Kaliebe were attempting to carry out an attack on the homeland. 
       
    • Rather, online materials likely aided in their radicalization process and prompted their desire to fight overseas. 
       
    • Additionally, their potential engagement in conflict abroad would have provided them with the training experience to return home to carry out an attack. 
 
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