Appeal Issued After Weapons Explode In Fire

Detectives from the PSNI's Terrorism Investigation Unit are appealing for information following the discovery of a "significant amount" of weapons and ammunition in west Belfast earlier this week.

As previously reported, police and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene of a blaze, in which a central heating boiler had caught fire in the back garden of a house in the Rodney Drive area on Wednesday 14th November.

In the boiler house, emergency services discovered two AK 47 assault rifles, two sawn off shot guns, a high power rifle with silencer, three pipe bombs and over 100 rounds of live ammunition.

Some of the rounds exploded during the fire, posing a significant danger to local residents and the Fire Service who were working to extinguish the fire.

Detective Superintendent John McVea said: "The weapons, bombs and ammunition were stored on top of the hot boiler and its beggars belief that anyone would store items such as volatile as bombs and bullets in a hot environment.

"This is simple recklessness and shows a total disregard for the safety of local residents.

"Anyone with an ounce of sense would know that live ammunition and pipe bombs mixed with heat is a recipe for carnage," DS John McVea added.

"We firmly believe these weapons belong to the New IRA. One of the lines of enquiry is that these AK 47 firearms were used in attempts to murder police officers in Rosnareen in November 2015 and on the Crumlin Road in January 2017.

"The Crumlin Road shooting in particular also demonstrated recklessness and showed total disregard for members of the public as gunmen fired bullets into the filling station forecourt and shop, narrowly missing customers and passing motorists."

The PSNI believe the items were moved into the boiler house on Monday 12 November, some time after 9.30pm, and are keen to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the rear alleyway behind Rodney Drive around that time.

"These people are beneath contempt and I am asking for the community to stand up against these parasites. They don’t have your best interests at heart, instead they want to control and exploit the decent people trying to live their lives and raise their children. They clearly don’t care if they harm you in their sinister activities. This is not want anyone wants for the future."

A 35-year-old man who was arrested under the Terrorism Act on Wednesday 14 has now been released unconditionally.

Anyone with information is asked to get in touch using non-emergency line 101.



(JG)