Member of terror group may be trying to slip into Texas from Mexico, U.S. warns

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Homeland Security officials have asked Houston authorities to watch for a member of a Somalia-based terror group who may be coming to Texas through Mexico.

The department issued an alert last week for a suspected member of the al-Shabaab group, which has declared allegiance to Al Qaeda.

The alert was issued after federal prosecutors in San Antonio added new charges earlier this month against a 24-year-old Somali man, Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane, who had been picked up in Brownsville in 2008.

He pleaded not guilty May 14 in San Antonio federal court to three counts of immigration fraud.

A Harris County sheriff’s spokeswoman confirmed a connection Wednesday between Dhakane’s case and the Homeland Security alert but would not elaborate.

Dhakane is accused of making false statements under oath in support of his application for asylum.

-- Associated Press