FIREARMS and military weapons including explosives have been uncovered in a raid on a New England property.
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About 8.30am on Wednesday, investigators used a firearms prohibition order (FPO) to raid the property near Armidale and uncovered the cache of guns and weapons.
New England detectives, backed by the district's Proactive Crime Team (PCT), police and the dog unit, combed the rural property on Thunderbolts Way at Yarrowyck, in a combined effort that took much of the day.
"During the course of that search, police located a cache of items including firearms and firearm parts, ammunition, and a quantity of military ordinates, including smoke grenades and flares," New England Detective Sergeant Matt Crotty told the Express.
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"A crime scene was declared and a warrant was obtained, and the items were seized."
No one was arrested at the property, and no charges have been laid but extra back-up was called in to examine the military goods.
"Detectives from New England Police District are continuing inquiries into the seizure and the nature of those items, and are being assisted by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP)," Detective Crotty said.
The raid is part of an ongoing investigation by police and was triggered by the firearms prohibition order search.
"It is always a concern when firearms, and particularly military-grade weapons, are out in the public domain," Detective Crotty said.
"But this is a good result for community safety to take them out of public circulation.
"These items are particularly dangerous and now they have been recovered, and off the streets and not in the wrong hands.
"We will examine the circumstances and nature of the items and how they came to get to that location, and that is part of our ongoing inquiries."
Detective Crotty made an appeal for anyone with information to come forward.
"Anyone who has information on these items, or any weapons in the community, we would always urge them to contact Armidale police so that we can investigate and remove any dangerous goods from the community," he said.
Investigations are continuing.
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