Six Somali-American men from Minnesota have been charged by the federal authorities for planning to join Islamic State and fight for the militant group in Syria.

The group of young men, all U.S. citizens, were entwined with a much larger group of friends and relatives that had all been collaborating for the past 10 months. There is evidence that shows many of the group had tried to leave the country multiple times, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The six charged had been under FBI watch for a year when they were arrested on Sunday. The investigation was following young men who had been found attempting to travel to and join Islamic State. The FBI have stated that there was no evidence pointing to an attack inside of the United States.

In September, Marcos Alonso Zea of Brentwood, New York pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

On Monday, Zea was sentenced to 25 years in prison. When originally arrested, he was stopped from flying to Yemen to join a Middle Eastern terrorist group, he admitted plotting with others to assist them as well.

U.S. prosecutors said that since 2007, a large amount of young Somali-American men living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have attempted to travel overseas to support Islamic State or Al-Shabab, a Somali-based militant group.

“We have a terror recruiting problem in Minnesota,” U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Andrew Luger said at a news conference.

The larger group of the men who were arrested have been found to meet regularly and plan trips. When one unidentified member had doubts and changed his mind, he recorded their meetings. Mr. Luger said, “They are not confused young men; they were not easily influenced,” he said. “These were focused men who were intent on joining a terrorist organization by any means possible.”