Alen Zheng, 20, Is Charged With Planting an Improvised Explosive Device at MacDill Air Force Base; Sister Ann Mary Zheng, 27, Arrested on Charges of Evidence Tampering.
Sam Cooper | The Bureau | Mar 26, 2026
MacDill Air Force Base. Screengrab via Youtube
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed indictments against a man who has fled to China and his sister who remains in Florida, charging them with an improvised explosive device plot targeting MacDill Air Force Base — the nerve center of American military operations against Iran — in a case that raises urgent questions on motive and whether geopolitical factors could be at play.
Alen Zheng, 20, the alleged primary suspect, is charged with attempted damage of government property by fire or explosion, unlawfully making a destructive device, and possession of an unregistered destructive device. His sister, Ann Mary Zheng, 27, faces separate charges as an accessory after the fact and for evidence tampering — prosecutors allege she tried to destroy a 2010 black Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 to keep it out of investigators’ hands.
The indictment against Alen Zheng specifically references a suspicious package discovered outside the MacDill visitor center on March 16 and accuses him of knowingly making a firearm and improvised explosive device with the intent to damage or destroy the facility.
Court records reportedly indicate that March 10 is also a date associated with the siblings’ alleged conduct — a detail that aligns with a separate and troubling claim that a first device was planted at the base nearly a week before the one the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered, and that it failed to detonate.
The primary suspect, however, is not in custody. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed Thursday that Alen Zheng has fled to China. “A brother and sister have now been indicted,” Patel wrote on social media. “One is in custody for accessory and evidence tampering and the primary suspect is charged with explosives offenses and is currently in China.” The circumstances of Alen Zheng’s departure — including when he left, whether it occurred before or after the March 16 discovery, and whether his travel was facilitated — have not been disclosed by investigators.
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