Irish police arrested four people and confiscated a cache of weapons Saturday in an operation to crack down on arms-smuggling rings, said reports from Ireland's capital Dublin.

The arrests, in suburbs of the southwestern city of Cork, took place after weeks of surveillance work by detectives and overseas agencies, police said.

In the operation, officers also seized "a sizable quantity of firearms and other high-powered weaponry," including rocket-propelled grenades, handguns and assault rifles.

The suspects, three men and a woman, could be questioned for a maximum of 72 hours before being charged or released.

Source: Xinhua