Officers with PNG’s National Intelligence Organization detained the men at their hotel in Port Moresby and are checking if they are linked to Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tigers.
The men, aged 19 to 26, were detained after authorities were tipped off about their suspicious behavior, the NIO said.
A spokesman for the NIO said it was believed the group planned to travel from PNG’s Western Province to Australia via the Torres Strait.
“We are checking their travel documents as we believe they may not be in order, and what or where they planned to go,” he said.
“The group are in being questioned and we are trying to find out their connection to the Tamil Tiger movement, as well whether they are staying in PNG or heading south (to Australia),” he added.
Tamil Tiger rebels have waged a violent secessionist campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s.
