Four individuals from the UK, identifying themselves as ‘hikers,’ were detained by American authorities after allegedly entering the United States through secluded forest areas that link Canada and Maine.
Among those apprehended was Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, 18, from Liverpool, along with Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, and Mohammed Sultan Saleh. Their capture on April 3 came after two vigilant maple syrup producers spotted them navigating an unpaved logging trail leading into the United States through dense woodland.
Initially, the group insisted they were unaware they had crossed into U.S. territory.
However, a GoPro camera captured them celebrating their arrival on American ground, as noted in an affidavit submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine on April 7.
The footage, referenced in the affidavit obtained by the Daily Mail, records Saleh confirming their location, saying, ‘I can confirm you are now on US soil.’
In response, Abdullah is heard asking, ‘I’m on US soil?’ to which Saleh responds by showing his phone screen displaying the GPS coordinates.
‘Now we are in the US,’ Saleh allegedly confirmed. ‘We just made it baby.’
The four men are now charged with one count each of Entry Without Inspection, a misdemeanor offense that carries a maximum sentence of six months in federal prison and a $5,000 fine.
All four have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail, the Bangor Daily News reports.
US authorities apprehended four British nationals caught sneaking into the US through the woods in Maine on April 3. Border Patrol agents are pictured here talking at a marina on the Niagara River in 2013
Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, 18, of Liverpool, as well as Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan and Mohammed Sultan Saleh were confirmed to be British nationals
The bust began when the two maple sugar workers heading into Canada spotted the four men, whom they described as appearing to be Middle Eastern, walking south, towards the US, on the Golden Road.
The so-called Golden Road is a 96-mile, primarily unpaved, private logging road in Maine that stretches to the Quebec border. There is nothing to see for the vast majority of it until the end, according to journalist Steve Robinson.
The sight apparently raised the maple sugar workers’ suspicions, and they flagged down a Customs and Border Protection officer at the nearby St Zacharie Port of Entry at approximately 9.15am to alert them.
By 9.40, the workers returned to the US side of the border to report that a third man had told them that two men in a gray Nissan parked on the Golden Road were asking passerbys for fuel and Wi-Fi so they could contact the people they were supposed to pick up.
At 10.13am, that same third man called authorities once again to report that the Nissan had turned up near his maple sugar shack at mile marker 80.
At that point, a Border Patrol agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer decided to load up their marked patrol vehicle and head south on the Golden Road.
When they then reached mile marker 90, the officers reported that they found fresh footprints in the soft dirt.
Then at mile marker 87, the officers found the four men trying to conceal themselves in the thick vegetation.
The men were apprehended at the US-Canada border (pictured)
‘One of the four men was acting nervously,’ Border Patrol agent Scott Hanton wrote in his affidavit, noting that he and the other officer took the men into custody without incident.
At first, the men claimed they were ‘just going for a hike,’ Hanton said, and told agents that they were British citizens.
They claimed they did not realize they entered the US, before agents found the damning GoPro footage as well as searches Saleh allegedly made that day including ‘bangor from my location,’ ‘boston from bangor,’ ‘new york from Boston.’
He even allegedly searched: ‘Is st zacharie border crossing still used the one near quebec golden road.’
After apprehending the four men, the two officers found the gray Nissan that the maple sugar workers described sitting near mile marker 80, out of gas.
Hanton said he and his partner then found two men inside, who identified themselves as US citizens.
But before the driver could fully exit the vehicle, the Customs and Border Protection officer saw him reach under the driver’s seat, where a loaded 9-millimeter handgun was found.
At that point, the authorities took the two men into custody as well, in connection with what the affidavit described as ‘a suspected alien smuggling event.’
Eventually, Hanton wrote, the passenger of the vehicle admitted that the driver had intended to pick up one of the four men – someone the driver said he dropped off in the same area along the Golden Road about 30 days earlier.
A forensic review of the driver’s cellphone then uncovered text messages with an individual believed to be one of the four men, discussing expected arrival times and pickup locations.
It remains unclear why the men were allegedly trying to enter the United States, but records show Abdullah – who is identified as the lead defendant in the criminal complaint – was previously deported.
His application to extend his US visa was denied in March 2025, and he left the country that May, according to Robinson.
Canadian officials then recorded him arriving in the country on April 1, traveling on a UK passport.
‘Law enforcement authorities are attempting to ascertain the purpose of his travel to Maine,’ prosecutors wrote.
Meanwhile, Abdullah appeared in court on April 7 and waived his right to both a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, consenting to remain in federal custody ahead of his trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 3.
Nagi, Khan and Saleh also have related cases pending in the same district.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Customs and Border Protection for comment.
