Dramatic moment four suspects ‘linked to Paris terror attacks’ are arrested for smuggling ISIS fanatics into Europe
Anti-terrorism officers arrested two Algerian men and two Moroccan men in a series of dawn raids across Spain on Monday
THIS is the dramatic moment armed police raided the home of suspected human traffickers accused of smuggling ISIS terrorists into Europe.
Anti-terrorism officers arrested two Algerian men and two Moroccan men in a series of dawn raids across Spain on Monday.
The suspects are believed to have helped sneak jihadis - who were posing as migrants and refugees - into Europe via Turkey.
They are also thought to be connected to two alleged ISIS extremists with links to the November 2015 Paris terror attacks, which claimed the lives of 130 people.
Footage shows balaclava-wearing officers breaking down the door to one home in A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain.
One of the suspects can also be seen sitting on the floor in handcuffs as the Spanish Civil Guard Police posed for pictures in the lavishly-decorated home.
The two men arrested in Galicia are Algerians and the pair held in Almeria are Moroccans.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said: “As a result of the investigation into the Paris attacks, Guardia Civil specialists are trying to determine whether those contacts were linked to the terror cell or if they resulted from the people trafficking network which was responsible for the arrival of almost 200 immigrants in Leros on October 3 last year.”
Officers said the suspects had been in contact, both before and after the Paris attack, with at least one of the ISIS suspects arrested in Austria after reaching Europe through the Greek island of Leros.
It is thought the contact the Guardia Civil are referring to relate to Algerian Adel Haddadi, 29.
He was extradited to France from Austria in July along with Pakistani Mohamad Usman, 35.
Reports at the time said investigators believe the pair travelled to Leros on October 3 on the same refugee boat as two men who took part in the November 13 attacks.
The killers, thought to be Iraqis, blew themselves up outside the Stade de France during France’s friendly football match against Germany, one of a series of assaults around the capital.
Haddadi and Usman had been arrested by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had fake Syrian passports.
They were then apparently freed rather than being deported back to Turkey, and made their way to Salzburg in Austria a few weeks after the Paris attacks.
They were arrested by Austrian police in December on a warrant issued by the French authorities.
Reports after his arrest said Haddadi had told investigators he had planned to go to France to “carry out a mission”.
Usman was described at the time as a bomb maker in his native Pakistan for extremist organisation Lashkar-e-Teiba.
Spain’s Interior Ministry Juan Ignacio Zoido said at a press conference in Seville that the operation was still open and further arrests could not be ruled out.
He said the “permanent and constant” number of police operations against Islamic terrorism was “contributing to guarantee the security of all Spaniards” although it was impossible to bring the risk down to zero.
He added: “It’s very important to be aware of and value the work of the forces of law and order because without them we wouldn’t be exercising our rights nor could we be living the way we do.”
Since the start of 2015 when Spain raised its anti-terror alert level to four on a scale of five, 168 suspected jihadists have been arrested.
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