MELBOURNE
Australian police have arrested a teenager in a raid on a Melbourne home over his alleged involvement in a plot to detonate bombs, according to officials Saturday.
The 17-year-old was charged with terrorism offences after police swarmed a two-story home in the northern suburb of Greenvale on Friday afternoon, and discovered improvised explosive devises.
Balaclava-clad officers from the Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) armed with assault rifles surrounded the residence as armored vehicles cordoned the street, ABC News reported.
Robert Hill, Victoria Police acting deputy commissioner, said Saturday that the issue had been under “intense investigation, especially over the last nine days.”
"The investigation has been methodical. Our resolution phase has been precise and measured,” he was quoted as saying.
He explained that the teenager had been leaving the residence in a car with a female when he was taken into custody and the female “secured.”
Mike Phelan, AFP deputy commissioner, told reporters that it had yet to be determined whether the suspect was acting alone and when the alleged plot was planned to take place.
He said a bomb squad had recovered improvised explosive devices that “were subsequently taken to a nearby park and rendered safe.”
Hill assured the situation had been “contained” and no “imminent threat” remained in Victoria.
"We have dealt with his family and his family are a caring, loving family that are now very, very distraught as a consequence of what is alleged," he added. "It has undoubtedly taken them by surprise.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in Darwin that the government was aware of a very serious threat.
“There have been some raids over the last 24 hours in Sydney and Melbourne. There’s been at least one arrest,” AAP quoted him as saying.
“There is evidence of a bomb plot that was in a reasonably advanced state of preparation and the police will have more to say about this.”
According to authorities, there were no links to a planned attack last month on police on ANZAC Day – which commemorates Australians and New Zealanders who fought in the 1915 Battle of Canakkale.
