(NewsNation) — A 22-year-old Lebanese migrant apprehended for crossing the border illegally near El Paso, Texas, on March 9 claimed to be a former Hezbollah member headed to New York and planning “to make a bomb,” NewsNation confirmed with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources.
Basel Basell Ebbadi told federal officials after being taken into custody that he was trained by the Iran-backed terror group for seven years and served four more as an armed guard at weapons locations, according to the New York Post, which first reported the story.
Ebbadi, who used a fake name and birthday in several countries before reaching the U.S., said he planned “to make a bomb” after arriving, the Post reported, citing a sworn interview.
A CBP source also said Ebbadi was acting in a very confident manner and described him as “bloviating and acting with machismo.”
The Lebanese man is now marked for deportation, The Post reported.
This comes as migrant encounters in the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol have increased in the past two weeks, but remain comparable to last December, federal officials say.
Border agents here have come across an average of 1,100 migrants a day – a mix of asylum-seekers trying to surrender at the border wall and groups of unauthorized foreign nationals trying to evade arrest – in the past two weeks.
In recent history, Hezbollah has been among the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world. It shares with Hamas the goal of wanting to dismantle Israel and harm its people. According to Arab Media, the terrorist organization praised the operation by Hamas inside Israel.
During the October 7th attack against Israel, the terror group claimed it was in direct contact with Palestinian resistance leadership, according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, a 40-year-old Colombian man on the terror watchlist was caught crossing into the Eagle Pass area along the U.S.-Mexico border last month, sources confirmed to NewsNation.
Carlos Obed Yepez-Bedoya — who’s been flagged as a known or suspected terrorist — entered Feb. 21 into the Eagle Pass area of Texas, just days before former President Donald Trump arrived.
Since October, the U.S. Border Patrol has caught 59 people on the terror watchlist crossing between ports of entry, marking a continuation of a significant uptick in recent years. From fiscal year 2017 to 2020, for example, less than 10 people on the list were encountered each year, federal data shows.
According to the memo, Ebbadi is being held at The El Paso Sector Hardened Facility
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley, Xavier Walton, affiliate Border Report’s Julian Resendiz contributed to this report.