International Parental Kidnapping Charge Filed Against Howard Co. Dad

COLUMBIA, MD — A Howard County man has been indicted on an international parental kidnapping charge.

Tahseen Dakheel Samo, 36, of Columbia has been charged with international parental kidnapping stemming from a divorce and custody battle over his minor child.

According to court documents, Samo and his former spouse, who are both U.S. citizens, have family members living in Sweden. In December 2020, while Samo’s ex-wife and their minor son visited family in Sweden, Samo traveled to Sweden to visit the minor victim. When Samo arrived, he took his son from his former spouse and came back to the United States with him. At some point, Samo texted his ex-wife, “You will never see your son again.”

The minor victim remained in Samo’s custody, thereafter, including during the divorce and custody proceedings that began in April 2024, in the Circuit Court for Howard County. Then in November 2024, flight records show that Samo and the minor child flew to Denmark, but only Samo returned to the U.S. Samo did not disclose the location of the minor victim to his ex-wife or the court, according to court documents.

Eventually, in October 2025, the court granted Samo’s ex-wife sole legal and physical custody of the minor child. The custody order required Samo to surrender his son to his ex-wife or disclose his location. Samo did not comply with the order, so the court held him in contempt.

On Nov. 29, 2025, Samo was released from contempt. Then on Dec. 12, 2025, the USMS and FBI arrested Samo in Arlington, Virginia. Authorities later located the child in Sweden on Jan. 27, 2026, and returned him to the U.S., according to court documents.

If convicted, Samo faces a maximum sentence of three years in federal prison for international parental kidnapping.