Foreign national indicted on terrorism charges in New York

Known as “Kozimjon Gafurov” and “Kozim,” he was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday on an indictment charging him with material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and Al-Nusrah Front (ANF). Both are U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations

“After a decade on the run, Ansariy is back in the United States, where he must answer to the charge that he supported two of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world, ISIS and the al‑Nusrah Front,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said. “As alleged in the indictment, Ansariy ran a network that raised money, arranged travel and paved the way for individuals who hoped to fight for these foreign terrorist organizations.”

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. in the Eastern District of New York said Ansariy's extradition and prosecution “should serve as a reminder that our office and our law enforcement partners will work relentlessly to hold accountable those who would provide support to terrorists seeking to harm the United States. Ansariy will now face justice for his actions in a U.S. courtroom.”

Ansariy is the founder and leader of a Brooklyn-based group, “chayxona” (Uzbek for “tea house” or “tea party”). The group consists of people who plan to travel to Syria to become ISIS or ANF fighters or who finance aspiring ISIS fighters’ travel, according to court filings. 

A multiagency investigation uncovered an extensive financial network involving Ansariy’s group that raised money to support those traveling to Syria to join ISIS. Funds were also raised to support their families they left behind when they traveled to Syria, including if they were killed fighting, according to the charges. Authorities were able to identify at least three individuals Ansariy’s network supported sending to Syria in 2013.

Both ISIS and ANF emerged during the Syrian Civil War. The U.S. launched Operation Inherent Resolve in 2014 to combat ISIS and ANF after having already  combatted Islamic terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria for more than a decade. These conflicts, part of the U.S. war on terror, have cost Americans nearly $10 trillion and the lives of more than 45,000 service members and contractors, The Center Square reported.

In May 2016, one of Ansariy’s alleged coconspirators was arrested. Five days later, Ansairy left the U.S. on a one-way ticket to Turkey. Ansairy was indicted in absentia by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn in November 2021.

Ansariy remained a fugitive for more than 10 years until he was arrested in August in Georgia. If convicted, he faces up to 35 years in prison.

The FBI investigated the case, with assistance from the New York Police Department, New York State Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the New York & New Jersey Port Authority Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, FBI Office of the Law Enforcement Attache in Tbilisi and Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office secured his arrest and extradition. He is being prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York.

His arrest is the latest of several in recent actions taken by the federal government to combat Islamic terrorism. 

Earlier this month, a 21-year-old man was arrested in the Western District of Pennsylvania on multiple terrorism charges after his plans to commit a terrorist attack in support ISIS were foiled, The Center Square reported.

Prior to that, multiple Muslim men seeking to support to ISIS in New Jersey, Washington state, Kansas and California were already being prosecuted. One suspect in Kansas City is accused of saying he wished he could kill 300,000,000 Americans, The Center Square reported. In June, another Muslim man in New Jersey was convicted of providing material support to terrorism after attempting to carry out an Iranian fatwa

Also in New York, a Texas man was charged with providing material support to ISIS, accused of building and instructing others how to build bombs. Last month, a 35-year-old woman was arrested on terrorism charged after she expressed her plans to blow up the state capitol in Albany, New York, in support of ISIS, The Center Square reported.