A former intelligence agent for Saddam Hussein was caught in the Dearborn, Michigan area by Homeland Security Investigations. HSI Detroit agents arrested Raad Alanbagi on Saturday after linking him to senior service in Iraq’s intelligence apparatus under the former dictator.
The arrest comes as President Trump’s administration has made the capture and removal of terrorists a stated priority; DHS recently said ICE has arrested more than 2,100 known or suspected terrorists and deported more than 2,000 under Trump.
HSI identified Alanbagi as an intelligence officer who served during the Saddam Hussein era. In its public statement the agency said: “HSI special agents arrested Raad Alanbagi after an HSI-led investigation uncovered information tying him to prior service as a high-ranking Iraqi intelligence officer during the Saddam Hussein era. HSI continues to safeguard our communities and national security.”
Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq as president from 1979 until his regime collapsed in 2003. His intelligence services enforced his rule through persecution, torture, and executions. The regime carried out the Anfal campaign against the Kurds, destroying thousands of villages, and launched the 1988 chemical attack on Halabja that killed thousands of civilians with mustard gas and nerve agents.
We still do not know what Alanbagi is being charged with. HSI has not released his exact rank, his specific role inside the Iraqi apparatus, his immigration status, when he entered the United States, or how long he had been living here. The Daily Wire reported that no further details were immediately available and that it had reached out to the Department of Homeland Security.
The arrest appears to have taken place near Dearborn, a Detroit suburb described as home to the largest per-capita Muslim population in the United States, with more than half of residents having roots in the Middle East or North Africa. The same report noted that last month the sheikh of a mosque in Dearborn Heights, Sheikh Ibrahim Yassine, declared that Islam and the Shiite faith are “coming to America” and said its adherents would help “build America” on “the basis of moral civilization and Islam.”
HSI’s published goal is to shield Americans from threats to their safety and security at home, abroad, and online. Its stated mission is to investigate the illegal movement of people, goods, money, weapons, and sensitive technology, including terrorism, national-security threats, human-rights violations, and war crimes, and to prevent terrorists and other bad actors from entering the country.
