Northern Ireland

West Belfast man arrested after weapons and ammunition find released unconditionally

Police searches in the Whiterock Road area of Belfast. Picture Matt Bohill.
Police searches in the Whiterock Road area of Belfast. Picture Matt Bohill. Police searches in the Whiterock Road area of Belfast. Picture Matt Bohill.

A 31-year-old man arrested in connection with an arms seizure in west Belfast earlier this month has been released unconditionally.

The man was arrested by detectives from the PSNI’s Terrorism Investigation Unit on Monday.

Searches were carried out in Ballymurphy, the Whiterock Road and in St James on Monday with further searches in Lenadoon in the west of the city yesterday.

The PSNI said the searches were connected to the discovery of a weapons dump, following a fire in the St James’s area earlier this month.

Two AK47 assault rifles, were among the cache found in the burning boiler house at the rear of a property in the St James’ area of west Belfast. Police said they believed the haul belonged to the dissident organisation known as the ‘New IRA’.

The stash also included a high-powered rifle with a silencer, two sawn-off shotguns, three pipe bombs and 100 rounds of ammunition.

Tests carried out on the weapons revealed one was used to shoot at police at Rosnareen Avenue in west Belfast in November 2015, while the other was used on the Crumlin Road, in north Belfast, last January in an attack which resulted in a police officer being shot in the arm.

It is thought that the boiler house they were stored in caught fire after the heating was turned on, causing the high powered ammunition that had been left on top of the boiler to explode.

The 33-year-old woman arrested on Monday was released unconditionally.

Searches were carried out in Ballymurphy, the Whiterock Road and in St James on Monday with further searches in Lenadoon in the west of the city yesterday.