ALBAWABA - A smuggler with ties to the terrorist group ISIS helped more than a dozen migrants from Uzbekistan and other countries to cross the borders to the United States from Mexico after they sought asylum at the southern border earlier this year.
While the FBI says no specific ISIS plot has been identified, officials are still working to “identify and assess” all of the individuals who gained entry to the United States, according to a statement from National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson, CNN reported.
According to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the smuggler was based in Turkey and had ties to the ISIS group. CNN was the first to report on the event.
Whitehouse spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in a press conference that intelligence alerted them of this human smuggling network. "We moved fast, and we successfully disrupted it. We're very grateful to law enforcement for their quick work and their vigilance on this" Jean-Pierre added.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that the U.S. authorities have no indication that migrants aided by the smuggling network were tied to extremist groups or plotting terrorist attacks.
Earlier this year, a group of Uzbek migrants sought refuge to the States and were examined by the Department of Homeland Security, joining a growing number of asylum seekers from Central Asia who have traveled to the United States in recent years.
There was no evidence in any of the intelligence community databases that sparked any warning signs regarding these migrants, therefore they were all released back into the United States upon a pending court appearance.
It wasn't until the FBI discovered the existence of a human smuggling network assisting foreign nationals in migrating to the United States - and that this network included at least one individual with ties to ISIS - that national security officials put the pieces together.
