Police in Belgium apprehended an 18-year-old and three others in their late teens on Sunday, who are suspected of “exchanging text messages” about a “terrorist attack” plot, according to the Brussels federal prosecutor’s office overseeing the investigation.
The four suspects were apprehended during raids conducted in Brussels, Ninove, Charleroi, and Liège, according to the prosecutor’s spokesperson, Eric Van Der Sypt.
The arrests were made as part of a police investigation to uncover individuals in Belgium associated with Islamist extremism. While investigators found no weapons or explosives during the searches, mobile phones and laptop computers were confiscated for analysis.
The texts exchanged among the individuals were deemed “sufficiently concerning” to necessitate intervention and searches, according to Van Der Sypt. He said that while no immediate terrorism plans were in place, the situation was “serious enough to require action.”
The suspects’ young “age” also alarmed authorities. Teenagers are “highly malleable,” he explained. “If someone hands them a weapon, for instance, things can quickly escalate. So, we don’t want to take any risks.”
The four suspects are currently under investigation, with the next phase in the case to be determined by a magistrate.
Belgian authorities remain vigilant after jihadist attacks in 2016 that claimed the lives of 32 people at Brussels airport and metro, and the fatal shooting of two Swedish football fans by a Tunisian individual in October.