The FBI accused a Tucson man of building a homemade explosive device for what he thought was going to be a car bombing in Mexico, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Ahmad Suhad Ahmad, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen, is accused of distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction, according to the complaint unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
Ahmad told an FBI source in December 2016 he learned how to build bombs that could be detonated by cell phones during the war in Iraq, an FBI special agent wrote in the complaint. The unnamed FBI source asked Ahmad to show him how to make a car bomb for a target in Mexico and Ahmad agreed to make the bomb.
Ahmad met numerous times with FBI sources and undercover FBI agents in April 2017 to discuss plans for building the bomb, according to the complaint. On one occasion, Ahmad met an FBI source outside an apartment complex in Tucson and explained the equipment he would need to build a land mine or improvised explosive device.
Ahmad then traveled with two FBI sources and two undercover agents from Tucson to Las Vegas on April 26, 2017. Ahmad brought a circuit tester, electrical tape, tubes of Permatex Epoxy, and other items needed to build the bomb. Undercover agents brought other materials requested by Ahmad.
While at a condominium in Las Vegas, Ahmad built the device over several hours and explained the process to the agents. Ahmad also explained how to build another bomb, according to the complaint.
