Following an interrogation of the Russian nationals, the Marseilles Prosecutor's Office announced that one to two kilograms of explosives could be located in the town. However, according to the TV channel, as of noon, police were unable to find any explosives.
On Monday night, five Russian nationals aged 24 to 37, most of them of Chechen origin, were arrested in the town of Beziers and Saint-Jean-de-Vedas in France's Erau department. Two of the Russian nationals have since been released.
The French police official said, however, that according to preliminary information the detained were not linked to any extremist organizations and there was absolutely no certainty as to whether these people had in fact been plotting a terrorist attack.
France has been on high alert since the beginning of 2015, when a series of terrorist attacks in Paris claimed the lives of 17 people, including three policemen.
