Seven people have been arrested after police discovered an arsenal of weapons in a house in Amsterdam.

Police said they saw a 26-year-old Amsterdammer and two cars with Belgian number plates apparently exchange a large, black sports bag on Saturday in a street in Amsterdam Nieuw-West and gave chase.

At some point, the bag was thrown out of a car window and turned out to contain three automatic weapons and a handgun.

Although police lost the cars in the high-speed chase, they later found them again. The Amsterdammer and three others were arrested at a meeting in Utrecht, and two of these suspects were then deported.

Another car was spotted at a McDonalds car park in Breukelen and the two occupants were arrested.

Police also searched a house in the Comeniusstraat, where the original exchange took place, discovering automatic weapons, ammunition, drugs, cash and an 18-year-old woman, who was arrested.

Five suspects will appear before a court in Amsterdam this week.