Thursday, December 04, 2014

Five arrests in Wales over leaflets recruiting to jihad and two in London after armed anti-terror police stopped vehicle at Dover on its way out of Britain

  • Five men arrested in Barry and Cardiff, south Wales this morning
  • They are being held in relation to alleged support of banned organisations
  • They are accused of handing out leaflets outside mosques and schools 
  • Two arrested by anti-terror police in separate raids in south-east London
  • They are being held while police search five homes in London and Stoke
  • Two sets of arrests not linked - London raids linked to arrests in Dover
Anti-terror police carried out a wave of raids this morning and arrested five men in south Wales and two men in south-east London.

Five men - aged 19 to 32 - were detained in Barry and Cardiff over the alleged handing out of extremist literature on the streets of the Welsh capital.

In a separate probe, the Metropolitan Police arrested two men - aged 33 and 44 - in an ongoing investigation sparked when a vehicle was stopped in Dover at the weekend.

Police outside a house in Barry, south Wales today. Five men have been arrested in the area over the alleged handing out of extremist literature in Cardiff
Police outside a house in Barry, south Wales today. Five men have been arrested in the area over the alleged handing out of extremist literature in Cardiff
Detectives were seen entering and leaving the property in Barry - and two other homes in Cardiff - after a wave of raids across the UK today
Detectives were seen entering and leaving the property in Barry - and two other homes in Cardiff - after a wave of raids across the UK today

Police have been searching homes in Colcot Road, Barry and Paget Street and Kent Street in Cardiff after early-morning raids today.

The men, who have not been named by police, are accused of handing out leaflets outside schools and mosques in a bid to recruit teenagers to the cause of Islamic State (ISIS), the jihadist group terrorising Syria and Iraq.

A neighbour of the three-bedroom home in Paget Street being searched said: 'Officers have been coming in and out all morning carrying stuff.

'There's an Asian family that live there but we've never had any trouble whatsoever.' [lol dont they always say that]

Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Holland, head of counter terrorism in Wales, said: 'We have made these arrests because we want to prevent people from going to Syria.'

She insisted there is no more Islamic extremism in the Welsh capital than anywhere else in the UK, adding: 'The scale of counter terrorism in Wales is minimal compared to the entire UK.

'Cardiff is not a hotbed of terrorism and we have a good relationship with our Muslim community.'

In the south-east London raids, a 33-year-old was arrested on suspicion of being concerning in preparing acts of terrorism.

A 40-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to possess and supply fraudulent documents. 

Searches are taking place at five residential addresses; four in south-east London and one in Stoke, as part of investigation which has so far seen eight people detained.

On Sunday, two men were arrested at the Kent port on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism, a 43-year-old and 33-year-old.

Another man, aged 37, was also arrested on suspicion on people trafficking offences and has since been charged.

The following day, Monday, police from the same Counter Terrorism Command unit arrested two men, aged 24 and 40, in east London and another man, aged 28, in Dover.

 All three were held on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism.

Following those arrests, searches were carried out at four addresses in east London, one in south London and two in North Wales as part of the investigation. 

These searches have now been completed. It is understood that operation is in connection to extremism in Syria.

Cardiff has previous links with extremism after two jihadists from the city - Nasser Muthana (right) and Reyaad Khan (left) - appeared in an ISIS video urging other British Muslims to join them in Syria
Cardiff has previous links with extremism after two jihadists from the city - Nasser Muthana (right) and Reyaad Khan (left) - appeared in an ISIS video urging other British Muslims to join them in Syria

The arrests come a day after a teenager from Cardiff was charged with assisting in the preparation of an act of terrorism.

Kaleem Brekke, 18, from Grangetown in Cardiff has appeared in court, along with Forhad Rahman, 20, from Cirencester, Gloucester.

Both appeared in separate hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with assisting in the preparation of an act of terrorism.

Rahman is accused of assisting Aseel Muthana in travelling to Syria in February. He also faces two counts of possessing data on his phone that could assist terrorism. 

Aseel Muthana, also from Cardiff, is believed to have travelled to Syria to join his brother, Nasser.

Brekke is also charged with assisting Aseel Muthana travel to Syria. Both he and Rahman were remanded in custody to appear separately at the Old Bailey on December 19.

Cardiff's links to extremism were exposed when Reyaad Khan, 21, and Aseel Muthana's brother, Nasser, 20, appeared in an ISIS recruitment video believed to have been filmed in Syria earlier this year.

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