A 24-year-old Garden Grove man, Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen, was arrested by federal agents Friday in Santa Ana as he apparently prepared to board a bus to Mexico enroute to fight for al-Qaeda.
Nguyen, a U.S. citizen who used the alias Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum, was charged with two felonies: working for a foreign terrorist organization, al-Qaida, and applying for a U.S. passport under a fake name.
Federal officials didn’t release details of the investigation into Nguyen’s activities but stated in a news release that the investigation is continuing.
“Investigators do not believe Nguyen was traveling with others, nor are they aware of a continuing threat to the public at this time, based on his alleged activities,” according to the news release.
Nguyen is the second Orange County man linked to the terrorist organization.
Adam Gadahn, 35, whose real name was Adam Pearlman, lived in Santa Ana’s West Floral Park neighborhood while he was in high school. He’s a well-known al-Qaida spokesman and film maker and also is known as “Azzam the American.”
Gadahn, part of the terrorist organization since at least 2001, was close to Osama bin Laden and as recently as August called for al-Qaida attacks on U.S. ambassadors around the world.
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