Guns and ammunition seized from house in Newtownards

Q Newsdesk

Twenty-four guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition have been seized from a house in Newtownards.

The property in Ardkeen was raided on Friday, in a joint operation by the National Crime Agency, the PSNI, and Border forces.

The 61 year old man who lives there is a registered firearms holder.

He was arrested and released under investigation.

Joint operation in Northern Ireland nets haul of twenty-four firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Read the full story: https://t.co/QHG0woB9pZ pic.twitter.com/xagK4jLcIA

— National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) November 17, 2019

In  a statement the NCA said: 

"Twenty-four firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition have been seized in a joint operation between the National Crime Agency and the Police Service of Northern Ireland."

"The investigation commenced following the interception of an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and two hand guns by Border Force officers at an international parcel hub in the Midlands earlier this month."

"Officers recovered the firearms and ammunition haul during a raid at a house in Ardkeen, Newtownards, on Friday morning".                              

"The 61 year old man, who lived at the property and is a registered firearms holder, was arrested and released under investigation."

NCA Branch Commander David Cunningham said:

“This operation is an excellent example of the cooperation between the NCA, PSNI and our Border Force colleagues. Together we have identified and recovered a significant quantity of illegal firearms and ammunition that could have been used to commit serious violence or other criminality.”