French officers police the grounds surrounding the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Thursday, France's interior minister said law enforcement officers arrested a man involved in the plotting of a future terrorist attack somewhere in the country. File photo by BlackMac/Shutterstock

PARIS, March 24 (UPI) -- French authorities foiled a terrorist attack in the works by raiding a suspect's home in a Paris suburb, France's interior minister said Thursday.

The raid was carried out Thursday morning in the suburb of Argenteuil, just 10 miles northwest of downtown Paris, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said during a news conference late in the day.


Arrested was a suspect, he said, who was involved in the future plot that was in the "advanced stages."

"This arrest is the result of a meticulous investigation carried out over a number of weeks involving important physical and technical surveillance resources, and required a tight and constant cooperation between European services," Cazeneuve said, calling it a "Major Arrest."

"Once again, it demonstrates how active our anti-terrorism services are," he added. "So far 75 individuals linked with terrorist activities have been arrested in our country since the beginning of 2016. These arrests have led to 37 people being charged and 28 detained."

The news came less than two days after coordinated attacks in Brussels killed at least 31 and wounded hundreds more. Cazeneuve, though, said there were no immediate indications that the thwarted plot has any connections to Belgium or November's attacks in Paris.

After the man's arrest, police returned to his neighborhood and searched other residences to look for any potential accomplices. Residents were evacuated, bomb technicians investigated the area and security agents had cordoned off the neighborhood into Thursday night.

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The details of the plot weren't immediately revealed, but authorities indicated that it was to be carried out somewhere in France. Officials said the suspect had been under surveillance for weeks.

It also wasn't disclosed whether investigators know exactly which terror group the suspect was involved with.