Najibullah Zazi

Najibullah Zazi (, ; born August 10, 1985) is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the U.S. al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system, and who pleaded guilty as have two other defendants. Spooked, however, by surveillance from U.S. intelligence, and warned by a local imam that the authorities were inquiring about him, he abruptly flew back to Colorado. He was arrested days later.

On February 22, 2010, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to a terrorist organization. He said he was recruited by al-Qaeda in Pakistan for a suicide "martyrdom" attack against the U.S., and that his bombing target was the New York City subway system. Zazi faced a possible life sentence without possibility of parole for the first two counts, and an additional sentence of 15 years for the third count.

Two of his high school classmates who had traveled with him to Pakistan, his father, his uncle, and an imam from Queens were indicted on related charges. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder referred to the planned attack as "one of the most serious terrorist threats to our nation since September 11, 2001."

Early life Zazi was born in a village in Paktia Province, Afghanistan to a Zazai Pashtun family. He has two sisters and two brothers. Mohammed Wali Zazi, Najibullah's father and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, found work as a New York City taxi driver.

From 1999–2009, Zazi lived with his family in Flushing. While he was a teenager, he and his family lived in the same apartment building as, and attended the same mosque, the Afghan Hazrat-i-Abu Bakr Sadiq mosque, as did its imam, Saifur Rahman Halimi. Halimi and the Zazi family, among others, left the mosque at the same time, during a leadership disagreement.

Zazi struggled as a student at Flushing High School in Queens, eventually dropping out. He claimed that several trips he made to Pakistan between 2006 and 2008 were to visit his wife. In the course of his visits, Zazi and his wife had two children, whom he planned to relocate to the U.S. The Center for Strategic and International Studies describes the FATA as:

ground zero in the U.S. Jihadist war, and home to many al-Qaeda operatives, especially the numerous foreigners from the Arab world, Central Asia Muslim areas of the Far East, and even Europe who flock to this war zone for training [and] indoctrination. He took lengthy notes and emailed them to himself, so he could access them upon his return to the U.S. He gave money and computers to al-Qaeda before leaving Pakistan. Vinas, born in Queens, had also traveled to Pakistan (in November 2007) to join a jihadist group to fight against the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

Vinas was also recruited by al-Qaeda, and taken to a training camp in Waziristan. There, he also underwent weapons and explosives training (from late 2007 through August 2008).

Jihad Jane plot

Over the internet, Zazi befriended Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, a Kansas City, Missouri-born medical assistant from Leadville, Colorado, who had converted to Islam, according to her family.

Return to United States On January 15, 2009, Zazi returned to the United States Hydrogen peroxide and acetone are components of triacetone triperoxide (TATP; also known as acetone peroxide)-based bombs. According to the United States Department of Justice, JPEG images of nine pages of handwritten formulations and instructions for making and handling TATP and other explosives were found in one of Zazi's email accounts; they mention that acetone is found in nail polish remover, and that hydrogen peroxide can be found in "Hair Salon - 20-30%." Authorities examined the kitchenette, and found traces of chemicals in the vent. Afzali identified Zazi, who had prayed at Afzali's mosque, and two of the other three photos. He intended to finish building the bomb that weekend. They planned to board the middle of packed trains on the , , , and/or trains, to cause maximum casualties.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the plot had been uncovered by Scotland Yard, which intercepted an e-mail from a senior al-Qaeda member in Pakistan to Zazi, instructing him how to implement his attack. The e-mail was intercepted as part of "Operation Pathway". They did not find anything of note, and he was allowed to go. Afzali's lawyer later wrote the court: "Even though [Zazi] is not the brightest bulb in the terrorist chandelier, the thinly-transparent ruse of a 'random' checkpoint stop did not fool him."

Zazi called Afzali, said his car had been stolen and he feared he was being "watched", and that the people watching him took his car. An alert was issued to American law enforcement officials to be on the lookout for hydrogen peroxide-based bombs.

On September 16, Zazi voluntarily appeared and was interviewed by members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force at the Denver FBI offices in the presence of his lawyer. A federal grand jury there returned an indictment charging him with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

Zazi was initially held as a federal inmate (registration # 36553-013) at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn. He was held without bail, and was initially scheduled to be sentenced June 25, 2010. By mid-April 2010, however, he had been moved to a secret location. They were held without bail.

Medunjanin is a Bosnian immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1994, was naturalized in 2002, and lived in Flushing, Queens. On January 7, 2010, while police were executing a search warrant at Medunjanin's residence, he left his apartment and attempted to turn his car into a weapon of terror and become a martyr. Moments before crashing into the rear of another car on the Whitestone Expressway and fleeing on foot, Medunjanin called 9-1-1, identified himself and left his message of martyrdom, during which he invoked the name of Allah, shouting an al-Qaeda slogan: "We love death more than you love your life"—a refrain al-Qaeda trainers used to inspire recruits to commit murder and suicide. He reportedly told authorities he trained with Zazi in the al-Qaeda camp in Waziristan, Pakistan. He reportedly discussed possible target locations in Manhattan, including the subway system, Grand Central Station, the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square, and movie theaters to carry out suicide bombings during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

Conviction of Medunjanin On May 21, 2012, Medunjanin was found guilty of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder of U.S. military personnel abroad, providing and conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda, receiving military training from al-Qaeda, conspiring and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and using firearms and destructive devices in relation to these offenses.

On October 6, 2020, Medunjanin's sentence was reduced to 95 years.

Zarein Ahmedzay Ahmedzay, a New York City cab driver born in Afghanistan and living in Flushing, Queens, tested to become a city firefighter in 2007. He initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of making false statements to the FBI about his activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. On February 25, 2010, he also pleaded not guilty to additional charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material support to al-Qaida. On December 14, 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Mohammed Wali Zazi

On September 19, 2009, authorities also arrested his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, for destroying evidence. He was released on $50,000 bond and was placed under house arrest. He was convicted in July 2011 of destroying evidence and lying to investigators to cover up his son's plot. On Friday, February 10, 2012, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for obstructing the federal investigation of his son.

Imam Ahmad Wais Afzali

American authorities also arrested imam Ahmad Wais Afzali, who was charged with and convicted of lying to the FBI about a conversation in which Afzali informed Zazi he was under surveillance. Afzali was formerly a resident of Flushing, Queens, and legal permanent resident of the U.S., born in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was an imam at a Queens mosque, and ran the Islamic Burial Funeral Service, a Queens funeral parlor. He was charged with having told Zazi that he was being watched, and lying to the FBI in a matter involving terrorism. He initially pleaded not guilty, faced up to eight years in prison and deportation if convicted, and was freed on $1.5 million bail.

On March 4, in a plea bargain he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of lying to U.S. federal agents, and said he was sorry. Afzali faced up to six months in prison, and as part of the plea arrangement the government agreed not to request any jail time. Brooklyn federal judge Frederic Block sentenced him on April 15. As part of his plea agreement, Afzali voluntarily left the U.S. in July 2010, within 90 days of his conviction. As a felon and under the terms of his plea bargain Afzali may not return to the U.S. unless given special permission.

Afzali denied any intention of aiding terrorism or misleading authorities, and according to his lawyer he was "caught in a turf war between the NYPD and the FBI." He was also arrested. One or two more suspects are being sought outside the U.S.

Guilty plea

Zazi cooperated after being told that his parents could be charged with immigration fraud. His guilty plea was the result of a plea bargain with the prosecution.

He refused to name which subway line was the target of the plot. He said the intent of his suicide mission was to draw attention to activities of the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

Zazi faced a possible life sentence without possibility of parole for the first two counts, and an additional sentence of 15 years for the third count. Sentencing was extensively delayed while Zazi cooperated with law enforcement. In 2019 Zazi was sentenced to ten years in prison (effectively, time served), and released.

2025 Arrest On 13 September 2025, Zazi was arrested in North Carolina for violating the terms of his release. Zazi is accused of communicating with “individuals or organizations that are affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations.” The charges were based on four payments, totaling several hundred dollars, sent anonymously to the prison commissary accounts of his friends and former co-conspirators, Zarein Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin. According to Zazi's lawyer, the payments, sent in March, were part of Mr. Zazi’s annual religious charitable giving to the poor, or zakat. He pleaded not guilty.