WATCH ABOVE: The RCMP say they have caught a suspect who had plans to carry out terrorist attacks in Toronto. Vassy Kapelos has the details.
TORONTO – A Pakistani man accused of planning to hatch a terrorist attack on the United States consulate in Toronto was held in custody on Wednesday pending deportation.
Jahanzeb Malik, 33, was arrested March 9 by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). He has not been charged with anything, however, and the CBSA is attempting to deport him, claiming he is a threat to national security.
None of the allegations have been proven.
A deportation hearing for the man started Wednesday morning and the lawyer representing the government, Jessica Lourenco, said officials launched their investigation in September 2013.
“Malik attempted to radicalize the undercover officer by showing him videos apparently of (Islamic State) beheadings,” Lourenco alleged. “He told the undercover officer about his plan to build remote-controlled bombs to blow up the U.S. consulate and other buildings in the financial district of Toronto.”
The CBSA claims Malik demonstrated a violent extremist mindset and was advocating for extremist ideology while also planning an attack on the U.S. consulate in Toronto. He also allegedly claimed to be a friend of American-born al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in 2011 during an airstrike in Yemen.
WATCH: Blaney reiterated Canada’s apparent need for more anti-terror powers in bill C-51 despite an arrest made in Toronto of a person linked to the Islamic State.
Sources tell Global News that Malik was issued a visa to come to Canada on April 13, 2004 from Islamabad. He was admitted to Canada as a student and got permanent residence status, which allowed him to come back into Canada after travelling abroad.
He was interviewed by CBSA and CSIS officials at least once in 2013 when he arrived at Pearson Airport in Toronto. He told them he was coming from Libya and also spent a few months in Saudi Arabia.
WATCH: Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety, confirmed Wednesday that an Islamic State supporter arrested in Toronto.
Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney accused Malik of being an ISIS supporter and was promiting a “jihadi ideology.”
He also suggested Malik’s arrest confirms the need for the Harper government’s new anti-terrorism legislation, Bill C-51, despite the arrest being made without the enhanced powers.
“This demonstrates that they are working well and this also demonstrates that the threat is real and that we need to be able to tackle this threat and with our many tools in C-51.”
Malik’s lawyer, Anser Farooq, was outraged at the entire process.
“You can’t have determination – which we as Canadians should demand – of charges of this nature in immigration hearings,” Farooq told The Canadian Press. “(People) who faced similar allegations in the criminal court would not have been able to clear their names absent the checks and balance afforded in our criminal justice system.”
WATCH: Blaney fails to explain why Toronto terror suspect could be deported
– With files from Vassy Kapelos and the Canadian Press
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