Two men traveling with Swedish passports were arrested at Alexandroupolis, near the Turkish border, while trying to enter Turkey. The arrests of Bosnian Mirsad Bektasevic, aged 29, and Yemeni Al Hasani Amer, aged 20, on Thursday have put Greek authorities on high alert. The two men were arrested on charges of carrying weapons for the Islamic State with their final destination believed to be either Syria or Iraq.

Data so far shows that the two men have links to ISIS, with Bektasevic (aka Maximos) believed to be a person of interest for European security forces due to his past offences. On October 19, 2005, he had been arrested after a police raid on his aunt’s home in Sarajevo. Police had found a belt with explosives, 18 kilos of explosives, a video tape with directions as to how to create a makeshift bomb.

Both men arrested in Greece were considered suspects following a terrorist attack against an embassy of a Western country in Sarajevo.

Greek activities 

Greece’s daily Ta Nea reports that a case file collected by Greek authorities shows that both suspects stayed in Athens for two days before continuing their journey to exit European territory on January 22. Authorities were alerted of their presence when they arrived at Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport. From there, both men took a KTEL bus for Thessaloniki and arrived at Alexandroupolis with a second bus.

The ‘green light’ for their arrest came when they had booked a ticket for Tyhero. Their arrest was given following a signal by European intelligence services. Now their cell phones and the people with whom they had contact are under investigation. Both suspects have remained silent following their arrest, denying any involvement with ISIS and stating that they wanted to visit the village of Peplos for tourism.

They revealed surprise when authorities found knives in their luggage, stating that they had not believed that these were cause for concern. Neither have asked for a lawyer so far though this may change when they meet with the prosecutor on Tuesday.