The Nicaraguan Police deported to Costa Rica Tuesday night four men allegedly linked the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), confirmed Costa Rica’s immigration service, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME).
Two of the men, Egyptian nationals were identified as Mohamed Ibrahim (33) and Mahmoud Samy Eissa (26), while the other two were identified as Iraqi nationals Ahmed Ghanim Mohamed Al Jubury (41) and Mustafa Ali Mohamed Yaoob (29).
The four were arrested Tuesday morning by the soldiers of the Nicaraguan Army patrolling the southern border, the area known La Guasimada, in Cardenas, Rivas, a point of undocumented crossing between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
According to the DGME, the men are being held in the Los Lagos de Heredia detention center for “high profile” (dangerous) detainees. They will remain there until their deportation date is defined.
The four had entered Costa Rica on June 9 from Panama, where they had been since May 12.
This morning, Stephen Madden, director of the immigration police, explained that there is no formal alert, but acknowledged that there is a bulletin from Homeland Security Investigations, (HSI) to interview the men.
Immigration officials say that at the time there were no international or national security alerts; an HSI bulletin was received after their entry into the country.
The director of immigration, Raquel Vargas, confirmed that the men entered Costa Rica as part of a migratory group from Brazil and headed to the United States.
Unconfirmed reports say that the men are to be interviewed by the agents of the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad (DIS) – Costa Rica’s intelligence service – and immigration police later today on their possible ties to ISIS.
