ELMHURST — Two men, including one from Elmhurst, allegedly plotted to send money, winter clothing and electronics to Taliban and al-Qaida soldiers to help them fight through the harsh Afghan winter and "level the playing field," the Queens district attorney said.
Humayoun Ghoulan Nabi, 27, from Elmhurst, and Ismail Alsarabbi, 32, who lives in Brooklyn, were each charged with second-degree soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism and fifth-degree conspiracy.
According to the DA's office, both defendants said they eventually planned to send weapons to the soldiers but they weren't ready yet — so instead, they wanted to send socks, shoes, jackets and electronics in order to help the armies "to be more powerful."
The plan, according to court documents, was to store the supplies inside a warehouse in Kabul.
The defendants wired thousands of dollars through Western Union to Lahore, Pakistan, so Nabi's father could handle and buy further supplies for the troops, the DA said.
Nabi began discussing his plan with in 2011, according to court documents, saying he "hated the United States and wanted to take a stand," according to the DA.
"We are sitting here breathing in peace eating chicken and roasts and our brothers, they are dying buddy," Nabi allegedly told an NYPD informant, the district attorney's office said.
Nabi admitted on Oct. 7 that he was involved in the plan to assist fighters in Afghanistan because he "hates the United States, Jewish people and U.S soldiers" and wanted to provide equipment that would "level the playing field," the DA said.
"The arrests of these two New York City residents, Nabi and Alsarabbi, demonstrate the spectrum of terrorism threats that the New York City Police Department must continue to guard against," Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a statement.
Nabi and Alsarabbi face up to seven years in prison if convicted, and will return to court on Oct. 25.
