Four men arrested for taking part in a “Jew hunt” and keeping a weapons arsenal in France

Four neo-Nazi men were arrested in France for taking part in a ‘Jew hunt’ during a football match in Strasbourg. French police have discovered.

On Tuesday, May 31, French police officers detained four men, aged 45 to 53, at their homes in the eastern Alsace region after intelligence services determined the group’s members took part in a “Jew hunt” during a football match in Strasbourg. After the arrest, French police discovered an arsenal of weapons in the men’s flat, including submachine guns. The men are suspected of belonging to a neo-Nazi group, officials said on Friday.

An “alarming” number of guns – 18 legal and 23 illegal – 167 magazines, 30kg (66lb) of gunpowder, and materials for potentially making explosives were discovered in the perpetrator’s flat, prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot told a press conference.

The bullet equivalent of “at least 120,000 cartridges” was also found, Lt Col Yann Wanson of the local police unit said. They also discovered equipment for making bullets and more than €25,000 ($26,800) in cash.

So far, investigators have not determined if the men were planning an attack, but antisemitic and Holocaust-denial works were found, and computer equipment is being analyzed, prosecutor Roux-Morizot said.

The suspects have been charged with arms trafficking and face up to 10 years in prison.

Due to increased antisemitic incidents in recent years, France has stepped up its surveillance of far-right extremists.

 

Photo credit: The Times of Israel