Eight Moroccan men were arrested on Tuesday 25th of April in Barcelona, Spain as part of an antiterrorism operation against suspected militants believed to be linked to last year's attack on Brussels' airport. Four of those arrested have a «clear affiliation» to the organization «Islamic State» and are suspected of having participated in attacks in other European countries, the Catalan police chief Josep Luis Trapero told Media. Trapero said that the operations were carried by the Catalan police, the Spanish national police and the Belgian federal police indicating that the arrest of these militants could reveal information concerning other attacks that targeted France and Belgium. The men arrested, aged between 31 and 39, were living in Catalonia and they were able to «travel to Belguim as well as other European cities», M. Trapero added. Most of the men accused had criminal records related to organized crime such as drug-trafficking. According to Reuters, the arrest of these people follows an eight month-long investigation that targeted Islamist militants and organized crime in Barcelona.
