Three quizzed over arms haul
Two women and a man were questioned by police tonight after a weapons and drugs seizure in a north Belfast loyalist housing estate.
An AK47 assault rifle, three handguns, ammunition as well as ecstasy tablets and cannabis worth almost £40,000 (€62,800) were found at three houses in the Westland area.
Police had been acting on a tip-off and the raids were the latest to be mounted as part of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde’s crackdown on the Ulster Defence Association and other loyalist paramilitaries.
Chief Superintendent Julie Lindsay-White, the north Belfast district commander, confirmed that two women and a man were taken away for questioning after five houses were searched.
Ballistic tests were being carried out on the guns to establish if they have been used in any shootings.
Superintendent Lindsay-White said: “We are all aware of the potential use of guns in north Belfast. It is too early to establish a link with any of the organisations, but this is a very significant find.”
