A Pakistani national has been sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiring to smuggle a member of Tehrik-e-Taliban, a designated terrorist outfit, into the United States.
Irfan Ul Haq, 37, conspired with others to smuggle into the US an individual who was believed to be a member of a foreign terrorist organisation, said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A Breuer, after the sentencing was announced by a US district court.
"Such conduct presents a serious threat to our national security, and we will continue to work closely with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to prevent human smugglers from operating at home or abroad, and to punish them for their crimes," Breuer said.
Earlier, two other Pakistani nationals Qasim Ali, 32, and Zahid Yousaf, 43, were sentenced respectively to 40 months and 36 months in prison.
"Today's sentence successfully brings to a close our prosecution of three criminals who aimed to use their human smuggling network to help a person who they believed to be a terrorist infiltrate our homeland," said US Attorney Ronald Machen.
He said by convicting three Pakistani nationals who were operating out of Ecuador, "we have demonstrated our ability to dismantle human smuggling operations throughout the world when they threaten our national security".
The three were arrested in Miami in March last year.
