Officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, together with officers from Northumbria Police and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), arrested a 45-year-old man in the city on Sunday in connection with offences under the Terrorism Act.
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The weapons and explosives were found at a house on the Ballymurphy Road.
Detective Chief Inspector Gillian Kearney, from Serious Crime Branch said police were “delighted” to have seized “potentially lethal items from the streets of west Belfast”.
The finds were made during an operation on Friday aimed at tackling dissident republican activity.
A 21-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man are also being questioned at a police station in Antrim in Northern Ireland.
Police say there was, and remains, no risk to the people of Sunderland following the arrest. The recovery of Semtex is particularly interesting, given that that particular explosive was brought into this country by the Provisional IRA from Libya several decades ago and was of course supposed to have been entirely decommissioned in 2005.
He added: “In light of the announcement by the Secretary of State of a new independently reviewed assessment of paramilitary organisations, these are exactly the type of questions which need to be answered”.
Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the PSNI should be praised for discovering the weapons stash.
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“From our perspective, what we have to do is continue to support the Garda and the PSNI in the good work that they are doing”, he added.
