'Violent Jihad' Terror Plot Foiled
By: KNBC
Updated: November 21, 2012
One of three Southern California men accused of planning to join a mentor in Afghanistan to commit "violent jihad" had undergone a major transformation in the past two years, two people who knew him said.
Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, 21, of Upland, had been a religious Catholic before turning to extremist Islamic views, according to a friend and a neighbor.
Along with Ralph Deleon, 23, of Ontario, and 21-year-old Arifeen David Gojali of Riverside, Santana is accused of plotting to join the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan. The three men - who were arrested in Chino Friday - were under the guidance of 34-year-old Sohiel Omar Kabir of Pomona, who was being detained in Afghanistan.
