An improvised explosive device planted outside the visitor center at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, went undetected for six days at the installation commanding U.S. military operations against Iran, federal authorities announced Thursday after indicting two siblings in connection with the plot.
🚨 An IED was placed at MacDill Air Force Base – home to CENTCOM and U.S. Special Operations Command.
A brother and sister have now been indicted. One is in custody for accessory and evidence tampering and the primary suspect is charged with explosives offenses and is currently… pic.twitter.com/am6YWbgZCt
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 26, 2026
MacDill houses U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). CENTCOM has been directing Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran that began February 28.
Alen Zheng, 20, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, allegedly planted the device near the base’s visitor center on the evening of March 10. Base personnel did not find it until March 16, six days after it was placed. U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Gregory Kehoe said the device “certainly could have caused significant damage to people that were in the range.”
NEWS ALERT from @FBITampa: Man Charged for Attempting to Detonate an Improvised Explosive Device at MacDill Air Force Base; Woman Charged with Assisting After the Fact and Evidence Tampering Related#FBI Tampa joined its law enforcement partners to announce the indictments of a… pic.twitter.com/Vuz2J5kbEm
— FBI (@FBI) March 26, 2026
On the construction quality of the IED, Kehoe said Thursday: “Anytime somebody puts an IED together… there always is a level of professionalism, and quite a bit of professionalism when they end up being deadly.”
Minutes after planting the device, Alen Zheng called 911 to report a bomb at the base but refused to give a location, prosecutors said. Investigators traced the call to a prepaid phone he purchased at Best Buy, corroborated by store security footage.
The siblings fled to China on March 12. Ann Mary Zheng, 27, returned through a Detroit airport on March 17 and was arrested. Alen Zheng remains in China.
On March 11, the pair sold the 2010 black Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 used to transport the device to CarMax. Despite cleaning the vehicle, investigators recovered trace explosive residue inside.
The FBI airlifted the IED via a borrowed Pasco County Sheriff’s Office helicopter to its explosives laboratory in Huntsville, Alabama.
A March 18 search of Alen Zheng’s home uncovered IED components. His mother and Ann Mary Zheng both told agents that Alen Zheng had confessed to planting the device, Kehoe said. The mother is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for a visa overstay and has not been criminally charged.
Alen Zheng faces charges of attempted damage to government property by fire or explosion, unlawful making of a destructive device, and possession of an unregistered destructive device, with a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Ann Mary Zheng is charged with accessory after the fact and evidence tampering, facing up to 30 years. Kehoe said investigators have found no established motive and no connection to the Chinese government.
In a separate case, Jonathan James Elder, 35, was arrested March 23 on charges of making threatening phone calls to MacDill on March 18. Prosecutors said Elder had no known connection to the Zhengs.
“No one who targets our brave service members and military facilities will ever get away with it,” FBI Director Kash Patel said, “and this FBI will pursue all those responsible for the incident at MacDill Air Force Base to the ends of the earth.”
