A Muslim-American from Ashland in Boston was arrested on Wednesday near the Pentagon and charged with trying to destroy or damage the headquarters of the U.S. Defense Department and the U.S. Capitol with remote-controlled model planes loaded with 24 pounds of C-4 explosives.

Rezwan Ferdhaus was collared by federal agents posing as members of the extremist group, al-Qaida.

An affidavit stated that Ferdhaus started planning against the U.S. as early as 2010 after being influenced by "jihadi websites and videos" that Western nations were evil, according to reports from the Associated Press.

The alleged plan of Ferdhaus, who holds a degree in Physics from the Northeastern University, was to launch three model planes from a park near the government buildings and use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to direct these objects filled with 5 pounds of plastic explosives towards his targets, the AP also disclosed.

The model aircraft used by the suspect included the F-4 Phantom and F-86 Sabre small scale replicas of the air force jets.

The F-4 is said to cost $20,000 while the F-86 ranges from $6,000 to $8,000. These models have a speed of more than 100 mph and are approximately 5 to 7 feet long.

Federal officials said they have been aware of the probability that model aircraft may be used for terrorist activities but experts in counter-terrorism as well as hobbyists claim that it is almost highly improbable that these gadgets can inflict substantial damage since they cannot carry enough explosives that can demolish a big edifice.

Remote-controlled aircraft have been used before by fanatics as in the case of a certain Christopher Paul of Ohio who pleaded guilty to carrying out attacks in the U.S. and Europe using explosive devices that were supposed to be placed in a 5-foot long helicopter manipulated by a remote device.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actually working on new regulations for unmanned aircraft and model planes but these are intended more for preventing accidents.

Present FAA policies provide that these planes should fly below 400 feet and away from airports and air traffic.