A criminal complaint was unsealed last week charging four foreign nationals after U.S. naval forces interdicted a vessel in the Arabian Sea that was transporting suspected Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry. Two Navy SEALs lost their lives during the interdiction.
The four defendants and eight of 10 material witnesses made their initial appearances before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Richmond on Thursday.
Defendant Muhammad Pahlawan is charged with:
- intentionally and unlawfully transporting on board the dhow a warhead, knowing the warhead would be used by the Houthi rebel forces against commercial and naval vessels in the Red Sea and surrounding waters; and
- providing materially false information to U.S. Coast Guard officers during the boarding of the dhow regarding the vessel’s crew and cargo.
Co-defendants Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad were also charged with providing materially false information to U.S. Coast Guard officers during the boarding of the dhow regarding the vessel’s crew or cargo.
Pahlawan faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted of unlawfully transporting a warhead, and all four defendants face a maximum of five years in prison if convicted of the false statements offense.
According to court documents, the group attempted to smuggle advanced missile components, including a warhead, to Houthi rebels for use against cargo ships and U.S. vessels sailing across the Horn of Africa. The complaint alleges that the defendants were transporting weapons consistent with those used by Houthi rebel forces and then lied to the U.S. Coast Guard during the boarding of the vessel.
On the night of Jan. 11, U.S. Central Command Navy forces operating from the USS LEWIS B. PULLER, including Navy SEALs and members of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team East, boarded an unflagged vessel in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. As alleged, the U.S. boarding team encountered 14 individual mariners on the vessel.
During a search of the dhow, the U.S. boarding team allegedly located and seized what is believed to be Iranian-made advanced conventional weaponry.
Preliminary analysis of the advanced conventional weaponry indicates that it includes critical components for medium range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, to include a warhead and propulsion and guidance components.
The type of weaponry found aboard the dhow is allegedly consistent with the weaponry used by the Houthi rebel forces in recent attacks on merchant ships and U.S. military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Navy brought the 14 mariners aboard the USS LEWIS B. PULLER after determining the dhow was unsafe and unseaworthy.
On Feb. 11, the United States obtained arrest warrants for four of the mariners who were aboard the dhow – specifically, defendants Muhammad Pahlawan, Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad. Pakistani identification cards allegedly were found on the dhow for each of the four defendants.
The United States also obtained 10 material witness warrants for the remaining individuals aboard the vessel.
The defendants and material witnesses were transferred from the USS LEWIS B. PULLER to the Eastern District of Virginia.
“The Justice Department extends our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the two Navy SEALs who lost their lives on January 11 while conducting an operation in the Arabian Sea,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The charges resulting from that interdiction make clear that the Justice Department will use every legal authority to hold accountable those who facilitate the flow of weapons from Iran to Houthi rebel forces, Hamas and other groups that endanger the security of the United States and our allies.”
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Crystal Graham
