New Delhi: The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) detained a man on July 11, who identified himself as Jordan Brown, 36, a resident of California. He was detained near Border Pillar 516 in the Mainihwa area of Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, during a routine patrol by the SSB. The SSB personnel signalled him to stop, but he allegedly tried to flee before being caught, according to officials.
Brown did not have a passport, visa or any identity documents. Officials recovered ₹31,460 in cash and two mobile phones from him. Indian and Nepali citizens can cross the border without a visa, but this does not apply to third-country nationals.
According to police, Brown said he travelled to Thailand on a tourist visa and lost his passport there, then reached Sri Lanka by sea before entering India by sea on November 2, 2025. He said he had since lived in Goa, then travelled through Bengaluru, Lucknow and Gorakhpur before reaching the Sonauli border. Police said his account of his travel dates and route changed in different rounds of questioning.
Brown told investigators he had studied at the University of California and served in the US Navy and special forces until around 2024. In other statements, he described his service differently, as the Navy and Foreign Services. He said he had visited about 70 countries. He also said he had married an Indian woman from Uttarakhand in 2024, and was travelling to meet a Nepali acquaintance he identified only as “Naz”.
Police booked Brown under Sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, for allegedly entering and remaining in India without valid documents. He has been sent to judicial custody, and the US Embassy has been informed.
Brown’s arrest comes months after another American, Matthew VanDyke, was detained near the Myanmar border along with six Ukrainian nationals. VanDyke has been described in reports as a former CIA asset and one-time al-Qaida affiliate, and is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail. He is separately facing an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), along with an American and several Ukrainian nationals, over allegations of providing combat training to armed groups operating in Myanmar.
There is no confirmed link between Brown and that case.
Investigators are still trying to confirm Brown’s identity with US authorities and trace his travel route through Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. Officials say there is no evidence linking him to espionage or terrorism. For now, his arrest rests on one confirmed fact: he tried to cross into Nepal without valid travel documents.