ROME – An ISIS member was arrested in Leonardo di Vinci airport near Fiumicino, Rome, after trying to enter Italy with a fake passport, police said.

 Ikhomi Sayrakhmonzoda, 32, from Tajikistan was the subject of an international “red notice”, with a warrant out for his arrest for “having joined the ranks of the Islamic State and having gone to Syria to fight in 2014.” Interpol said he had fought against the local Syrian government as “an active member of the terrorist faction of ISIS.” This comes weeks after the terrorist attack in Moscow which was perpetrated by Tajiks.

 He entered Italy with a fake Ukrainian passport under the name of Timor Settarov. It is believed that he travelled around the world with a string of fake names, invented dates of births, while claiming he was multiple different nationalities. His fake passports often said he was from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, or Ukraine.

 The alert was raised when the border force matched his passport, fingerprints and other data with information shared by international law enforcement agencies at the gate, showing that there was an Interpol notice for him. 

 The special operation division of the Italian police did not arrest Sayrakhmonzoda immediately, but instead followed him to the train station which connects Fiumicino and Termini to see if he was meeting with anyone. Police discovered he was alone and prevented him from boarding the train. He was detained at 11:45 a.m. on Monday. 

 Under questioning, he revealed he could speak Russian and Turkish in addition to Tajik, his mother tongue. He was allegedly carrying 2000 euros cash on him. Police also said that his ticket from Eindhoven in the Netherlands was one way and that he had no other flights booked, suggesting that he had planned on staying in Rome.

 Police seized the 32-year-old’s phone to further investigate his intentions in Rome and to identify his contacts in Italy and where he had planned on staying.

 Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, congratulated the State Police for “the arrest of a Tajikistan citizen that took place in Rome”, saying it was “the fruit of effective prevention activities carries out by our units to counter the terrorist threat.”

 Sayrakhmonzoda had previously been arrested in Belgium in 2023 but was released. It is expected he will face up to 12 years in prison.