Heavily armed cops raid Rotterdam, Eindhoven homes in terrorism investigation; 3 arrests

Heavily armed cops raid Rotterdam, Eindhoven homes in terrorism investigation; 3 arrests Update 10:51 a.m. - An OM spokesperson told ANP that the police also raided a home in Alkmaar and arrested a suspect there, bringing the total arrests to three. The suspects are boys between the ages of 16 and 19, the spokesperson said. Heavily armed cops raided two homes in Rotterdam and Eindhoven overnight, arresting at least two people, the regional broadcasters reported. The raids and arrests were part of a terrorism investigation, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service (OM) told Rijnmond on Wednesday morning. In Rotterdam, heavily armed police officers raided a home on Strijpesingel at 1:15 a.m. They came out with a handcuffed and blindfolded man. The arrested man was driven away, Rijnmond reported. After ten minutes, the car with the suspect returned to the street. The police removed the suspect’s blindfold to unlock his phone using facial recognition. The police seized the phone for further investigation. In Eindhoven, a unit of the police’s Special Intervention Service blew open the front door of a home on Jan van Eyckgracht at around the same time, Omroep Brabant reported. The heavily armed cops stormed into the home after the explosion and came out with a handcuffed and blindfolded man. A photo by the broadcaster shows an armored cop about to move the handcuffed man into a police car. The arrested man was standing there in just his boxers, with a blanket or robe over his shoulders. A large number of police officers then started searching the home and cars on the street. On Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the OM confirmed to Rijnmond that the raids were linked and part of a terrorism investigation. The spokesperson could not say how many people were arrested. They also would not comment on the exact nature of the terrorism investigation.