Bronx Uber Driver Busted Trying To Join Taliban Labeled ‘Wannabe Playboy’ By His Lawyer

A former Bronx Uber driver who was busted for allegedly trying to join the Taliban has been labeled as merely a "wannabe playboy" by his own defense attorney at his opening trial on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

Delowar Mohammed Hossain, 35, originally from Bangladesh, but now a U.S. citizen, was arrested at the John F. Kennedy Airport in 2019 just before he was about to board his flight to Thailand. He was subsequently charged with attempting to provide material support for terrorism and attempting to receive or make a contribution to the Taliban, New York Post reported.

At Hossain's trial in the Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, Sept. 29, defense attorney Andrew Dalack said that Hossain was a disillusioned Uber driver who was upset about his finances and his family situation leading to his dubious decisions. Dalack proceeded to label Hossain as merely a "wannabe playboy" and said that he was traveling to Thailand to engage with women and had no plans to go to Afghanistan or join the Taliban.

Hossain's bag that he carried to the airport when he was arrested reportedly contained lotion, perfume, dozens of designer jeans, and Abercrombie shirts that he had planned to gift to women in Thailand and Bangladesh with whom he “fell head over heels for,” Dalack explained.

“These are items of a wannabe playboy,” the lawyer added.

Hossain also asked the help of one of his alleged terrorist accomplices, who was working undercover with the FBI, to acquire extra hair gel, condoms, and lubricant for him a day before he was arrested at the airport, Dalack said.

According to the prosecutors, Hossain planned to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban so that he can fulfill "his mission to kill Americans" which he had planned for more than a year.

Attorney Benjamin Schrier said that Hossain had $10,000 in cash when he was nabbed at the airport. Schrier added that Hossain had also ordered other supplies that he needed to survive in rural Afghanistan, where the Taliban was working to overthrow the government at the time,

Schrier reportedly admitted that Hossain visited strip clubs and bars and chatted with women online. However, he alleged that it was a strategy to throw off federal authorities who thought he was a radical Muslim terrorist.

Prosecutors reportedly have recordings of Hossain saying he wants to kill non-Muslim Americans before he dies.

When he was questioned by one agent in 2019, Hossain allegedly told him "I just want to take a frickin' machine gun and just shoot everybody and kill them all" according to CBS News.

In response to Schrier's statements, Dalack told the jurors that Hossain was just a Muslim man with a “wild imagination” and that his jihadi statements and warrior act were actually a front.