Four "British Hikers" Caught on Golden Road After Illegally Entering U.S. from Canada: Court Records

British men Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, and Mohammed Sultan Saleh were caught illegally sneaking into the U.S. in a remote part of Maine, per court records.

Four British nationals were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents in a remote stretch of Somerset County woods after illegally crossing from Canada into the United States on April 3, federal court documents filed this week reveal.

One of them captured the whole thing on a GoPro camera, narrating a celebration as the group set foot on American soil.

“I can confirm you are now on US Soil,” Mohammed Sultan Saleh narrated on video as the group crossed through thick forest just a few hundred yards from the St. Zacharie Port of Entry in northwestern Somerset County, according to an affidavit sworn by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Scott Hanton and filed April 7 in U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.

Another man in the group — Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah — can be heard on the recording asking, “I’m on US Soil?” Saleh replied by showing his phone screen with GPS coordinates displayed, and declared, “Now, we are in the US. We just made it, baby.”

The bust began with an unlikely pair of informants: two maple sugar workers heading into Canada who spotted four men of apparent Middle Eastern appearance walking south along the Golden Road near mile marker 90 — in the wrong direction to be casual hikers.

For those unfamiliar with the Golden Road, it’s a 96-mile, primarily unpaved private logging road in Maine, stretching from Millinocket west to the Quebec border — and there’s nothing but trees to see for 95.9 of those miles and no cell service.

The unidentified maple sugar workers flagged down a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the St. Zacharie Port of Entry at approximately 9:15 a.m. to alert them to the bizarre sighting.

By 9:40 a.m., the same workers had returned to the U.S. side with more intelligence: a third man had told them that two men in a gray Nissan parked on the Golden Road were asking passersby for fuel and Wi-Fi so they could contact the people they were supposed to pick up. At 10:13 a.m., that same third man called back — the Nissan had turned up near his maple sugar shack at mile marker 80.

A Border Patrol agent and the CBP officer loaded up a marked patrol vehicle and headed south on the Golden Road. At mile marker 90, they spotted fresh footprints in the soft dirt. At mile marker 87, they found the men themselves — four individuals attempting to conceal themselves in roadside vegetation.

Google Maps images of the area help show just how remote a location the supposed British hikers had found themselves in.

“One of the four men was acting nervously,” Hanton wrote in his affidavit. “The two officers took the four men into custody without incident.”

Although the Go Pro recording would show the men indisputably entered the U.S. illegally and intentionally, they initially claimed they were ‘just going for a hike.’

When questioned about their citizenship, all four told agents they were British citizens. They claimed they didn’t know they had entered the United States, a claim the Go Pro recording revealed to be a lie.

After being transported to the Jackman Border Patrol station, the men were identified as Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, 18, of Liverpool, England; Hameed Mohammed Nagi; Ibrahim Ayyub Khan; and Mohammed Sultan Saleh — all British nationals, according to court documents.

Their stories didn’t hold up.

Abdullah declined to answer questions. Nagi claimed he was just going on a hike with the group. Saleh echoed that line — but federal agents had already found the GoPro footage on his phone, along with a series of telling Google searches conducted April 3: “bangor from my location,” “boston from bangor,” “new york from boston,” and — critically — “is st zacharie border crossing still used the one near quebec golden road.”

That last search would appear to put to rest any claim that Saleh was unaware he had crossed an international border.

The gray Nissan the maple sugar workers had described was still sitting near mile marker 80 when agents returned — out of gas. Two men were inside. They identified themselves as U.S. citizens.

Before the driver could fully exit the vehicle, a CBP officer observed him reach under the driver’s seat. When agents checked, they found a loaded 9mm handgun.

The two men in the Nissan were taken to Jackman as well, in connection with what the affidavit describes as “a suspected alien smuggling event.” The passenger of the vehicle later admitted to investigators that the driver had intended to pick up one of the four men — someone the driver said he had dropped off in the same Golden Road area approximately 30 days earlier, according to Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Pierre Mathieu, who briefed Hanton.

A forensic review of the driver’s cell phone found text messages with an individual believed to be one of the four men, discussing expected arrival times and pickup logistics, according to the court filing.

Federal prosecutors’ motion for pretrial detention adds a further wrinkle to the story.

Abdullah, identified as the lead defendant in the criminal complaints, had previously run afoul of U.S. immigration authorities. His application to extend his U.S. visa was denied in March 2025, and he departed the country in May 2025, the motion states.

Prosecutors allege that Canadian authorities had recorded his arrival in Canada on April 1, 2026 — two days before the Maine crossing — traveling on a United Kingdom passport.

“Law enforcement authorities are attempting to ascertain the purpose of his travel to Maine,” the motion states.

All four men are charged with one count each of Entry Without Inspection, a Class B misdemeanor under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1), which carries a maximum sentence of six months in federal prison and a $5,000 fine. The case is assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge John C. Nivison.

Abdullah appeared before the court on April 7 and waived his right to both a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, consenting to remain in federal custody pending trial. The court accepted his waiver and ordered him detained.

Trial is scheduled to begin June 3, 2026, before Magistrate Judge Nivison. Pretrial motions are due April 21.

The three co-defendants — Nagi, Khan, and Saleh — have related cases pending in the same district.