Photo taken on April 29, 2018 shows smoke rising from the Islamic State militant's positions in the Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood, south of Damascus, Syria. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

MOSCOW, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russia intercepted a group of individuals accused of raising money for Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Syria, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday.

According to an FSB statement, three individuals had been detained in the Russian North Caucasus region and later put under arrest by a court decision. The arrested confessed to collecting and transferring money to terrorists under the cover of charity activities.

The FSB seized bank cards, fiscal checks, as well as other documentary materials confirming criminal activity, the statement said.

The investigation uncovered a scheme of transferring a total of more than 10 million rubles (around 150,500 U.S. dollars) to IS, it said.

In December, the FSB detained seven people suspected of raising and transferring at least 38 million rubles (about 572,000 U.S. dollars) to international terrorist organizations since 2010.