Two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition found buried in garden

Two pistols and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found buried in a Warrington garden.

Officers made the discovery when they searched a house on Selworthy Drive.

The weapons were concealed in two taped packages - one contained a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol and approximately 100 rounds of ammunition, while a Grand Power semi-automatic pistol with over 20 rounds of ammunition and a suppressor were recovered from the other.

The weapons seized (NCA)

The National Crime Agency searched the home after recovering messages shared on EncroChat - an encrypted communications network reportedly used by criminals.

EncroChat was brought down by police as part of Operation Venetic earlier this year.

(NCA)

There were also messages on phones seized in other arrests.

The discovery was made by the NCA (NCA)

Police arrested a man and woman in their 60s at the Warrington address but they were later released under investigation.

Robert Brazendale, aged 33, from Warrington, who has links to the property, was apprehended last month in the Costa del Sol on a European Arrest Warrant as part of the wider NCA investigation.

(NCA)

The investigation had already led to the recovery of two AK47 assault rifles, an Uzi and Skorpion sub machine guns and 300 rounds of ammo.

Three other men have been charged in relation to those seizures, a spokesman for the NCA said.