U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested four British nationals in a remote stretch of Somerset County woods along Maine’s northern border on April 3, after they allegedly crossed illegally from Canada near the St. Zacharie port of entry.
18-year-old Ali Mohamed Ali Abdullah, 21-year-old Hameed Mohammed Nagi, 27-year-old Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, and 22-year-old Mohammed Sultan Saleh, were discovered walking along the Golden Road, a 96-mile private logging route in Maine’s North Woods.
Two maple sugar workers spotted the group while returning from Canada through the St. Zacharie border crossing and immediately alerted U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Agents responded and located the four men on foot. Footprints later confirmed they had crossed the border on foot just a few hundred feet from the official port of entry.
A separate tip led agents to a gray car parked at the end of a maple sugar shack driveway about 10 miles away. Inside were two U.S. citizens whose vehicle had run out of gas. Agents discovered a 9mm handgun under the driver’s seat. One of the U.S. citizens told investigators the driver had previously brought one of the four British men to the same location about a month earlier. It remains unclear whether the two Americans will face charges.
When questioned, the British nationals told agents they had been “hiking” and were unaware they had entered the United States. However, evidence recovered from their cellphones contradicted that claim. A Homeland Security Investigations officer reviewed the devices and found GoPro camera footage in which Saleh repeatedly told the group they were now “on U.S. soil.” Phone records also showed the men had been actively using GPS and that at least one had searched online for the nearest port of entry and directions to Bangor.
Each of the four men was charged with one count of entry without inspection, a federal misdemeanor for illegally entering the United States. They all pleaded not guilty.
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