A police officer working for the Washington, DC transport system has been arrested "on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation", the US Department of Justice says.
Officials say Nicholas Young, a 12-year veteran of the Washington Metro Transit Police Department, was charged after a lengthy undercover operation targeting a number of people involved in supporting IS militants.
The Washington Post reports he provided "$245 of gift-card codes intended to help members of the Islamic State set up mobile messaging accounts to communicate with potential recruits in the West".
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The FBI said Young, who had been under investigation since 2010, had travelled to Libya in 2011 to fight with rebels during the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
He is also reported to be an "acquaintance" of Amine El Khalifi, who in 2012 pleaded guilty to plotting to detonate a suicide bomb at the US Capitol building.
"Over the next several years, in interactions with undercover officers and an FBI informant -many of them recorded - Young repeatedly expressed his interest in terrorism-related activity," ABC News claims.
Young is the first US law enforcement officer to be charged with aiding foreign terror groups. In the past three years, more than 100 US citizens have faced similar charges.
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