Zainuri won some renown by appearing in an ISIL propaganda video in May 2016, during which he burned his Malaysian passport to show that he had severed all links to his homeland's government.[1][2][9] He also said that one day the Malay Archipelago would be "swarming" with ISIL fighters who would bring the fight to Indonesia and Malaysia,[5][8] the latter of which he called an "infidel state"[1] with its people being "sinners".[2][8] After this appearance in a propaganda video, the Malaysian police learned of his experience in building improvised explosive devices and his desire to share these skills with other ISIL fighters. As result, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declared during a press conference in May 2016 that Zainuri had become "public enemy No 1".[6]