Spanish police have detained 13 men suspected of belonging to an international crime gang involved in passport forgery and are probing possible terror links, the interior ministry said Tuesday. The suspects - 11 Pakistanis, a Nigerian and an Indian - were arrested in Barcelona and the eastern city of Valencia, it said in a statement.
They are suspected of drugs trafficking and people smuggling in addition to passport forgery and are believed to have contacts in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Thailand. The probe was carried out in co-operation with police in these countries. "Police are investigating in collaboration with other European police forces if the detainees had a relationship with international terrorism," the statement said.