MONTREAL — Montreal police announced that they were investigating to determine whether five people arrested Wednesday night in possession of “incendiary materials” could have planned an act linked to the war in the Middle East.
The spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), Manuel Couture, said Thursday that investigators were trying to determine whether synagogues located near the scene of the arrests were targeted by the suspects.
Police intercepted a vehicle containing unspecified “incendiary objects” shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough. The police then arrested three minors, one aged 16 and the others aged 17.
Fifteen minutes later, in Côte-Saint-Luc, the police arrested two adults aged 20 and 22 who also had “incendiary material” in their vehicle.
Mr. Couture specified that the suspects had been released on conditions with a promise to appear at a later date at the Montreal courthouse or at the Youth Chamber of the Court of Quebec.
In a press release, Montreal police attribute the arrests to increased presence and surveillance as the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, approaches.
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