All 11 Egyptian Students Are Now In Custody

WASHINGTON – U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Richmond, Va., have arrested two additional Egyptian nationals who were part of a group of 11 Egyptian students that entered the United States at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport last month and failed to show up for a scheduled academic program at Montana State University.

Special agents from ICE and the FBI have now apprehended all of the original 11 Egyptian students who were the subject of a BOLO issued to law enforcement agencies nationwide last week. All have been taken into custody on administrative immigration violations as out-of-status students.

On Aug. 13, ICE agents arrested Egyptian nationals Mohamed Saleh Ahmed Maray, 20, and Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad El Shenawy, 17, at an apartment building in Richmond. ICE received critical assistance from the Virginia State Police and the Richmond Police in locating these individuals.

On Aug. 11, ICE agents in Des Moines, Iowa, arrested Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, 19; Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed El Moghazy, 20; and Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa El Gafary, 18. ICE agents tracked these students’ travels from New York to San Francisco to Des Moines.

On Aug. 10, ICE agents arrested El Sayed Ahmed Elsayed Ibrahim, 20, and Alaa Abd El Fattah Ali El Bahnasawi, 20, in Dundalk, Md. Also on that day, the Chicago Police Department detained Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Abou El Ela, 22 at O’Hare International Airport as he attempted to book a flight to Montana. He was turned over to ICE.

On Aug. 9, the Manville, N.J., Police Department detained Mohamed Ragab Mohamed Abd Alla, 22, and Ebrahim Mabrouk Moustafa Abdou, 22. Both were turned over to ICE. The same day, FBI and ICE agents arrested Eslam Ibrahim Mohamed El-Dessouki, 21, in Minneapolis.

Preliminary investigation by ICE and FBI agents has not identified any credible or imminent threat posed by any of the eleven Egyptian students.

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