FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Iraqi Security Forces and Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment conducted another successful raid here during the early morning hours April 19. The troops detained nine suspected insurgent supporters and confiscated the largest weapons cache they’ve found since their arrival in Iraq. “The private residence (we raided) was a suspected safe house, where insurgents could come to eat, sleep and get weapons as well,” explained 1st Lt. Anthony Mercado, Company C’s executive officer. The 31-year-old Stony Brook, N.Y. native added that terrorists could use the discovered munitions for building improvised explosive devices. “In the area around the property, we found 10 anti-aircraft rounds, hand grenades, an AK-47 with several magazines, and a 105mm round,” the 1995 graduate of SUNY Brockport College continued. “We also found a few thousand AK-47 rounds.” Nearby, troops also discovered more than $40,000 (U.S. dollars) worth of Iraqi Dinar. Additionally, he credited the operation’s success to the ISF personnel’s participation. “They were awesome. They found most of the stuff we came across last night. They just knew where to look.” Iraqi forces assisted the Marines with 1st and 2nd platoons dig for the weapons buried underneath rubble and concrete. “We had to dig up cinder blocks and fight through rebar to actually find some of this stuff,” Mercado said. Through continued teamwork, Mercado added that ISF and U.S. forces continue to make Fallujah a safer place. “These bad guys had lots of illegal weapons, stuff that could be used to make IEDs, but now they’re off the street.”