A Saudi Arabian man named Hussain Al Kwawahir was arrested over the weekend at Detroit Metropolitan Airport while transporting a pressure cooker — a device now associated with destruction after its use in the Boston bombings.
Al Kwawahir arrived from Saudi Arabia via Amsterdam on Saturday, purportedly to visit his nephew at the University of Toledo, reports DetroitNews.com.
Agents grilled him about the pressure cooker and discovered his passport was missing a page. In the process he allegedly told this lie, according to DetroitNews’ review of the criminal complaint:
Al Kwawahir said he brought the pressure cooker for his nephew because the devices are not sold in the United States … he changed his story and admitted that his nephew had purchased a pressure cooker in the U.S. but it was cheap and broken.
The suspect is charged for using an altered passport and lying to federal agents. He was set to appear in court this afternoon.
Meanwhile, in another story involving a Saudi man and a pressure cooker in Michigan, a student was grilled by feds last week after carrying a traditional rice dish to his friend’s house.