Four held in drug raid following weapons find

Three men and a woman were arrested today after a massive weapons cache was uncovered in Amsterdam as part of an international investigation into an Irish crime gang.

Police in the city detained the four after they found more than 150 firearms in an office building.

The haul included Glock pistols, Steyr sub-machine guns and silencers.

The men, aged 41, 42, and 53, and a 27-year-old woman have not been identified but Dutch police said they were arrested on suspicion of possession and sale of illegal firearms.

The National Prosecutor’s Office said the arrests followed a tip-off from authorities in the North who, along with the Gardaí, have led a crackdown on a drug and gun trafficking gang operating across Europe.

The seizure in Netherlands followed the detention of four men earlier this week - one in Belfast and the others in the Republic – and a mini-arsenal of 41 guns and drugs worth around €4m.

One man, 42-year-old Thomas Mulqueen, from Borrisokane, Co Tipperary, appeared in court in the Netherlands today charged with drug offences.