Two Queens men have been arrested in connection with the ongoing terror investigation into Najibullah Zazi, the Denver man accused of buying chemicals in an alleged plot to bomb New York subways back in September, NBC New York has learned.
Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay were taken into custody early this morning, FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said.
"Early this morning Medunjanin and Ahmedzay were arrested by the FBI's joint terrorism task force in New York as a result of an ongoing investigation," Kolko said in a statement obtained by NBC New York.
Brooklyn prosecutors indicted Zarein Ahmedzay on charges of making material false statements. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to federal investigators.
Prosecutors say Ahmedzay didn't name all the places he had visited in Pakistan and Afghanistan while visiting in late 2008 and early 2009.
The indictment also says Ahmedzay lied when he denied having discussions about attending a camp to receive military-type training.
The two men had been under scrutiny for months after Zazi was arrested for allegedly plotting to set off a bomb that targeted public transit in the city.
Medunjanin's attorney said his client knew Zazi from the Flushing neighborhood where Zazi once lived, but has long denied Medunjanin is connected to terrorism. He is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
The Bosnian immigrant was arrested after the FBI searched his home for a second time and took his passport. He apparently left the scene and crashed a car along the Whitestone Expressway while being followed by the FBI on Thursday. Investigators told NBC New York they believe he was trying to shake the FBI surveillance team that was following him.
Investigators also said he called 911 and made threatening and erratic statements.
Sources told NBC New York Medunjanin will likely be charged with material support for terror, but prosecutors are still sorting out the details of the charges.
The second suspect arrested early this morning, Ahmedzay, is a cab driver who investigators say has ties to Zazi as well. Sources told NBC New York that prosecutors were considering charges of lying to the FBI about the ongoing investigation.
Officials are not saying what new evidence surfaced to enable them to make the arrests, which come weeks after Zazi was charged in the alleged bomb conspiracy, as first reported by NBCNewYork.
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Investigators have said Zazi traveled to Pakistan for Al Qaeda-linked bomb training. They are looking into whether either of the two men arrested Friday was among associates of Zazi who also traveled to Pakistan and, if they did visit, what they may have done while they were there.
Zazi remains behind bars without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
His father and a Queens Imam are charged with lying to the FBI in connection with that case.
