The soldiers charged in connection with an alleged terrorist conspiracy had been under restrictions that limited their access to army bases and equipment, and none of the weapons, ammunition or explosives in their alleged arsenal originated from the Canadian military, the Department of National Defence says.

The statement from the DND on Monday morning did not say where those items, which were seized as part of the RCMP-led investigation that led to four arrests last week, came from.

Some of the kinds of tactical gear that the RCMP alleges was in the hands of the soldiers arrested in Quebec is highly restricted and is generally inaccessible to individuals, experts say.

On Tuesday, the Mounties arrested and charged four men in connection with an alleged terrorist plot. Two are active non-commissioned army officers, one is a former soldier and the fourth a former cadet instructor.

Canada’s national police have arrested four men, including two active members of the Canadian Forces, alleging that they diverted items from the military in hopes of using them to create an extremist militia and take over a plot of land north of Quebec City.

Marc-Aurèle Chabot and Raphaël Lagacé of Quebec City, along with Simon Angers-Audet from nearby Neuville, were each charged with one count of facilitating terrorism.