Canadian police arrest couple on terrorism related charges; offer no details

Canadian police arrest couple on terrorism charges

TORONTO — Police arrested two Ottawa residents on terror-related charges Wednesday and expected to arrest more, a Canadian government official said.

Police descended on a west-end home in Canada’s national capital of Ottawa early Wednesday and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a news release they were executing search warrants in connection with the case.

A government official described it as a homegrown plot targeting Canada. The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials declined to provide details on the identity of the suspects publicly or specify the allegations other than to call them terrorism related. Police said they will hold a news conference on Thursday afternoon to offer more details.

Matthew Weiler, a neighbor, said a man and woman had lived at the address for at least six months and that the woman usually was veiled in public.

Carolina Ayala, who lives four doors down from the couple, said she saw the man wearing blue hospital scrubs and thinks he may have worked at a hospital

A few miles away a police car sat outside an apartment building where a second raid was carried out.

The arrests come four years after the apprehension of the so-called Toronto 18, a homegrown terror plot that involved the attempted setting off of truck bombs in front of Canada’s main stock exchange and two government buildings. The ringleaders and others have been convicted.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Dick Fadden alluded to the possibility of other homegrown terrorist cases in comments to a Parliament public safety committee last month.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Wednesday he could not provide any details about the day’s arrests.

“It is clear that Canada is not immune from international or homegrown radicalization,” he said in a statement.