Vic anti-terror raid evidence examined

Counter-terrorism police will sort through bags of evidence seized during raids on houses linked to five Melbourne men charged over a plan to flee Australia to fight with Islamic State.

Islamic preacher Musa Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Kadir Kaya, Antonio Granata and Paul Dacre are due to face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with making preparations for incursions into foreign countries to engage in hostile activities.

Federal police and the Victorian joint terrorism team executed warrants on Tuesday in Melbourne's northern and northwestern suburbs including one house in West Footscray believed to belong to Cerantonio's brother.

They spent hours at the homes, scouring the back of several properties and at one, repeatedly searching a tin shed.

Police said the raids were "not linked to any increased threat or danger to the community".

The five appeared before the Cairns Magistrates Court on Monday where the AFP successfully applied for their extradition to Victoria.

Police would not say on Tuesday if they were still in Queensland or had returned to Victoria but it is believed the men will arrive in Melbourne on Thursday on a chartered jet.