A Florida man was arrested on Wednesday after authorities said he had plotted to attack a US airport.
Key points:The man is accused of planning to detonate a device at the US’s Dulles International Airport (DIA)He was in the US illegally, but authorities have said he was arrested without incidentTwo arrests have been made in connection to the plot, authorities sayThe man, whose identity has not been released, was arrested after being stopped at a US checkpoint in the Miami suburb of Fort Lauderdale, officials said.
“We have determined that this individual was arrested with no incident while traveling in the United States,” said Capt. Eric De La Rosa, a spokesman for the FBI Miami field office.
“He was not arrested on a US-bound flight.
He was arrested at the airport with no apparent incident and did not show any physical signs of a threat.”‘
A great opportunity’ to launch attack on airportThe man was charged with conspiring to commit an act of terrorism, a federal official said.
The man also faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, an attempt to use weapons of mass destructiveness, and making false statements, the official said on Wednesday.
The arrest came as US President Donald Trump and his top security officials spoke about the threat posed by North Korea.
The US military has stepped up military drills with South Korea in the wake of North Korea’s test of a hydrogen bomb, which was claimed by the regime.
The announcement was the latest in a series of military exercises that have heightened tensions between Washington and Seoul, which have also faced frequent provocations from Pyongyang.
The DIA, the main US airport for flights to and from the US, has been under increased scrutiny in recent months.
Last week, it was revealed that more than 1,000 people had been deported from the airport since August, when Trump announced plans to open it to the public.
But the new arrest was the first in connection with a possible attack.
The airport was one of several targeted by the FBI in 2017.
In July, an FBI special agent was shot and killed during an investigation of the alleged assassination plot against Trump.
That was the same month the agency launched an investigation into the alleged plot to blow up the US Capitol, which Trump has strongly denied.
Last month, the FBI arrested a man who was accused of plotting to detonator a device in the DIA in an attempt “to blow up an American airport”.
The man had allegedly plotted to use pressure cookers to create a “bomb with the force of a large bomb” at the Dulles airport, the Washington Post reported.US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Monday that there was “no indication” the man had acted alone.
“Our national security has been enhanced by this threat,” Johnson said.
“This is a great opportunity for our communities to continue their work to prepare for and protect ourselves.”
“If anyone was planning on doing harm, they have failed.
We have been able to do our work,” he added.
