Arrest of Somali Immigrant Linked to Past Piracy

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has apprehended a Somali man, Jama Ahmed, who is reportedly connected to a previous piracy incident and may have a pending warrant related to passport fraud.

Ahmed mentioned that he was detained by authorities close to the U.S.-Canada border earlier this month and is currently in custody in North Dakota on charges of unauthorized entry into the U.S.

According to officials, his fingerprints matched those taken during a U.S. naval mission in 2012 that targeted suspected Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, as stated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday.

Lauren Biss, acting assistant secretary of DHS, criticized the current border policies, saying, “The Biden administration’s weak border policies allowed this illegal alien to enter and remain despite multiple encounters with law enforcement.”

On April 14, Ahmed was first noticed by an off-duty Canadian police officer while he was traveling with a backpack a few miles north of the border. U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered him approximately two hours later and took him into custody.

DHS indicated that Ahmed’s fingerprints linked him to a 2012 event where the Navy’s USS Halsey responded to a distress call from an Indian-flagged ship hijacked by pirates. A naval boarding team found Ahmed and nine others, all reportedly armed and holding the vessel hostage.

It’s worth mentioning that Ahmed allegedly crossed into the United States near San Luis, Arizona, back in September 2022 and faced several encounters with law enforcement since then.

In 2024, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had detained him during inspections for fraudulent documents, while a full extradition warrant was reportedly issued in April 2025.

Biss expressed gratitude towards the U.S. CBP officers and Canadian authorities who assisted in Ahmed’s arrest, adding, “DHS remains committed to apprehending criminal illegal aliens to protect the American homeland from all threats.”