( CNN ) -- The man suspected to be at the center of the plot to send bombs from Yemen to the United States is a Saudi national who authorities believe has been living in Yemen for the past three years . Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri is one of Saudi Arabia 's most wanted men , according to a list published by the government last year . The Saudi government described al-Asiri as an explosives and poison expert . On Friday , authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Britain found two packages with explosives that were destined for synagogues in Chicago , Illinois . U.S. investigators believe al Qaeda bomb maker al-Asiri , 28 , is linked to the packages . The explosive found in the packages , PETN , is the same as the material found in the December 2009 foiled underwear bomb attack in the United States . It 's a highly explosive organic compound that belongs to the same chemical family as nitroglycerin . Six grams of PETN are enough to blow a hole in the fuselage of an aircraft . Al-Asiri was also suspected in the earlier attempted bombing case , where a Nigerian man , Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab , is accused of trying to set off a bomb hidden in his underwear on a flight . Al-Asiri 's brother , Abdullah , also appeared on the Saudi Arabia 's most wanted list . According to press accounts , it was Ibrahim al-Asiri who lured his brother to the jihadist movement . In 2009 , Abdullah al-Asiri died when he detonated a bomb on his body with the intent of assassinating Saudi Prince Muhammed Bin Naif , a top security official . The suicide bombing attempt failed to kill its target . A few days after that attempt , the Watan newspaper in Saudi Arabia interviewed al-Asiri 's mother and sisters . Their mother described Ibrahim and Abdullah as regular teenagers growing up . `` They were not religious boys at the time . They used to listen to music and had a wide variety of friends , friends not like the ones they had later when they became more religious , '' she told Watan . One of their sisters told the newspaper that the death of their brother Ali in a car accident in 2000 was a turning point in Ibrahim and Abdullah 's attitude . `` It was after that that they started swapping video tapes and cassettes on the Mujahedeen in Chechnya and Afghanistan , and they became at times distant , '' the sister said . `` Abdullah started to go out a lot with his new friends to camps known as 'preaching camps . ' '' Ibrahim at one point was arrested in 2003 while trying with others to enter Iraq to wage jihad , his family told Watan . He was held in prison for nine months . Also shortly after the attempt against the Saudi prince 's life , the Saudi Gazette newspaper spoke with Ibrahim and Abdullah 's father , who shed some more light on the young men 's upbringing . The family grew up in the Al-Jazira district of east Riyadh , he said , describing theirs as a pious family . `` We were living in Makkah two years ago and were planning to move back to Riyadh , but Abdullah and Ibrahim said they wanted to go to Medina before coming back with us , '' the father , Hassan , told the newspaper last year . `` Abdullah later contacted us to say he was out of the country , but did n't say where , and from that day on we had no more news of him until we saw his and his brother 's pictures a few months ago in the media as on the list of wanted people . '' CNN 's Tim Lister contributed to this report .
Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri is believed to be in Yemen . The U.S. has been carrying out drone strikes against al Qaeda and other militants since the September 11, 2001, attacks. He recruited his brother into a terrorist movement .