Who Is Matt (AKA Assef) Mihsen? Feds Ask

Nothing in the bag was illegal to be checked in luggage. But the unusual material, and the fact that Matt Mihsen was traveling overseas, caused security screeners at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to be curious.

The items were Geiger counters, a bulletproof vest, non-lethal weapons, and boxes of Black Talon 9mm ammunition. And Mihsen was headed not just anywhere -- he was headed to terrorist sponsor Syria, via Detroit and Holland. So the DFW TSA agents repacked the stuff in Mihsen's bag, and called ahead to ICE in Detroit. (At some airports they wouldn't bother -- at others, they wouldn't be permitted to do this).

At the layover, agents pulled Mihsen aside and questioned him. The question that led to his arrest was, was he was carrying large sums of cash? He denied it, but turned out to have over $13,000 on his person.

Further investigation showed that Mihsen is a naturalized citizen from Syria, whose name had been Assef Mihsen. He's been in the states for almost 20 years. He owns a small house in Tarrant, Texas, where he's well-liked by his neighbors ("just a nice guy"), had worked as a package handler for FedEx, and had told neighbors he was a pilot for the company (he wasn't, but he does have an FAA ATP/MEL granted in 1992. But his last Class I medical would have expired for all purposes in 1999, if the database is accurate. His PPL was granted in 1986, based on British license PP39382A. The UK CAA doesn't permit us to search their database, so that's where the trail ends for us, if not for the FBI and ICE).

Now Mihsen is in big trouble. The most serious charge is that of exporting money and weapons to Syria in violation of a Presidential order. He has told investigators that he was going to try to catch uranium smugglers in Syria, and possibly pursue the large rewards for Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists. He had told his ex-wife Victoria Shackleford, who learned of his arrest when FBI agents came to her house Wednesday morning, that he was going to visit his sick mother in Syria. "I don't think he is a terrorist, I just think he was being stupid," Shackleford told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. (Aero-News sees little possibility of a reconciliation there).

Black Talon ammunition was made by Olin Corporation, and was discontinued amid a charges by anti-gun groups that it was capable of penetrating police officers' protective vests. FBI tests demonstrated that the claims were baseless, and similar ammunition is now produced under the less scary name, "Fail Safe."

Was Mihsen indeed just "being stupid?" Was he a misguided bounty hunter who inadvertently violated a law he didn't know about? Was he a Walter Mitty type who told his neighbors grand stories? Or was he something else, something more?

The feds don't know. Yet.

FMI: www.ice.gov