Police arrest 3 people in Denmark, 1 in the Netherlands on suspicion of planning terror attacks

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Police arrested three people in coordinated actions across Denmark and one person was detained in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting to carry out “an act of terror,” authorities said Thursday.

Danish officials have stopped short of indicating what the suspected terror plots were connected to other than saying the arrests in Denmark had “threads abroad” and were “related to criminal gangs,” singling out the banned, predominantly immigrant gang Loyal to Familia.

However, Flemming Drejer, the operative head of Denmark’s Security and Intelligence Service, known by its acronym PET, cryptically said Danish police had “a special focus” on Jewish institutions. He did not provide more details.

He said that Denmark was not changing the terror threat level, which has been at “serious,” the second-highest level, since 2010. In January that year, a Danish court upheld a nationwide police ban on the gang, saying it should be dissolved as illegal under Denmark’s constitution.

The gang had been behind feuds, violence, robberies, extortion and drug sales in the Danish capital and “had used violence and illegal means to achieve its goal," the Copenhagen District Court said at the time. In September 2018, police in Denmark issued a temporary ban against the gang and said anyone seen wearing its logo could face prosecution.

”Persons abroad have been charged," Drejer said. "It is a serious situation.”

Speaking in a press conference, he added the arrests were “carried out in close collaboration with our foreign partners,” and said those arrested were part of “a network.” He said the suspects would face a custody hearing within 24 hours, likely behind “double closed doors” — meaning that he could not give...