Federal authorities arrested three U.S. citizens across Kansas and California on June 5, 2026, charging them with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS [1]. The defendants, Bisaam Ghafoor, 21, of Leawood, Kansas; Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, of Porterville, California; and Bereen Dzayee, 25, of Lakeside, California, were taken into custody on a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas [1][2]. Each faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted [1].
According to the complaint, the three men communicated from February 2025 through June 2026, during which time they pledged allegiance to ISIS and transferred more than $2,000 to an individual they believed to be an ISIS member [1]. Investigators allege the men also discussed plans to fund drone attacks intended to kill U.S. servicemembers stationed abroad [1][2]. The charges arise under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, the federal material support statute, which prohibits knowingly providing resources, including money and personnel, to designated foreign terrorist organizations [1]. ISIS has held that designation since 2004.
The arrests were announced jointly by FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche, with operational support from the FBI and prosecutorial authority vested in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas and the Justice Department's National Security Division [1]. The multi-state sweep required coordinated FBI field operations across the Kansas City and San Diego area field offices [2]. Officials did not publicly identify the suspected ISIS member who received the funds, nor did they specify which foreign theater of operations the alleged drone plot targeted.
The case remains at the complaint stage, meaning the government must either obtain an indictment from a grand jury or file a superseding information within the timeframe prescribed by the Speedy Trial Act. Defense counsel had not been identified in public filings as of the arrest date. Prosecutors will likely seek detention pending trial on the grounds that the defendants pose a danger to the community and a risk of flight, standard posture in material support cases. The District of Kansas has jurisdiction because Ghafoor, the Kansas-based defendant, is alleged to have been a central participant in the conspiracy, anchoring venue to that district [1].