Sayed Malike

A New York City cab driver, Sayed Abdul Malike, was arrested in May 2003 after allegedly negotiating a purchase of explosives, armor and drugs with a sting operative, and investigating bridges and ships near Miami, Florida.

Life Malike legally entered the United States from Afghanistan on September 26, 1996, and was awarded political refugee status in 1998 with help from immigration lawyer Eric Levine. He had also traveled to Italy and Pakistan, and settled in Astoria, Queens. He told the jurors that he was a lowly immigrant driving a cab to raise funds for a human rights organisation in Afghanistan, but the suit was rejected. he entered a computer shop in Queens, New York and struck up a conversation with the sales clerk about the vastness of the internet, and ended up asking the clerk about finding bombmaking instructions online. The clerk contacted the FBI, sparking an investigation.

On a trip to Florida a week later, The FBI was dispatched and conducted an interview with Malike, who assured them he was just a tourist taking photos with his camera phone,

On April 18, Garcia brought him "dummy material" packaged in a wooden crate to look like C-4 and told him it would cost $10,000 for his requested collection. Malike declined and said he didn't have the money nor the space to store the stuff currently.