Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Police arrested a suspected member of the Basque separatist group ETA Tuesday on a train in northern Spain, saying he was carrying a revolver and five forged identity documents.
The suspect was identified as Faustino Marcos Alvarez, 38. He has been a fugitive since 2002 when he fled after police dismantled an ETA unit in Spain's northern Basque region, the Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry did not elaborate further.
Police closed in on the suspect on a southbound train from France soon after it crossed into Spain at the town of Port-Bou, about two hours north of Barcelona.
He was carrying a .38 revolver with 13 bullets, three forged Spanish identity cards, two forged French identity cards, a laptop computer and about $8,000 in cash, the ministry said.
Police have been on heightened alert for a potential ETA attack or kidnapping since last December, when Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba issued an unusual public warning.
Less than two weeks ago, police in Portugal seized more than 3,000 pounds of explosives from a house used by ETA, and Rubalcaba later said 660 pounds of it was mixed and ready to be used imminently in bombs.
ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for Basque independence. It is listed as a terrorist group by Spain, the European Union and the United States.
The latest arrest boosts to at least 12 the number of ETA suspects arrested this year in Spain and in neighboring Portugal and France, where Spanish officials say ETA tries to maintain its rearguard logistics bases.
The arrests include four of the most-wanted ETA suspects last month, two each in Portugal and France, in separate police operations on the same Saturday night, January 9.
ETA, founded in 1959, is an acronym for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which means "Basque Homeland and Liberty" in the Basque language.
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