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Members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Nafis after he tried to use a cellphone to detonate what he believed was a 1,000-pound car bomb inside a NYC warehouse near the Federal Reserve Bank.  

Nafis' terrorist conspirators he believed supplied him with the explosives in July were actually undercover FBI agents.

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“Attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or maim untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure,” said Assistant FBI Director Mary Galligan. “It is important to emphasize that the public was never at risk . . . because two of the defendant’s ‘accomplices’ were actually an FBI source and an FBI undercover agent.”

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Nafis entered the country in January on a student visa, saying he attended school in Missouri.  He got the FBI's attention when he attempted to recruit terrorist followers by claiming a connection with al-Qaeda, according to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court.  

A written statement obtained by officials say Nafis declared the bombing to be in honor of al-Qaeda, quoted "our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden," and wrote his intentions were to "destroy America."

Sources say no proof of connections overseas with al-Qaeda have been made.

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Nafis appeared in federal court and was ordered to held without bail.  He faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and provide al-Qaeda with material support.

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Reach Executive Producer Lauren Foliart here.