Sabah Police Commissioner Abdul Rashid Harun said in a statement in Daily Express that the arms cache found on Tuesday may have been left by the Sulu militants in Kampung Tanduo in 2013.

“There’s a high probability these weapons were connected to Ops Daulat,” said Rashid.

“It’s still too early to comment. So, let us complete our investigations.”

The police made the connection as the weapons were found within the Ops Daulat area, he said.

“The person who found the arms cache is in police custody. He’s assisting in investigations.”

Apparently, the arms were seized from a farmer, 50, in Kampung Pasusul after a tip-off on Tuesday, according to a Borneo Post report.

The man had earlier found them at a location not far from Kampung Tanduo.

The farmer, according to police, claimed he found the arms cache scattered on the ground while about to prepare for farming.

The farmer reportedly cleaned the weapons with oil, wrapped them, and hid them in some bushes.

It was not immediately clear why he did that instead of alerting the police.

According to the police chief, the second arms cache included a M16 rifle with a complete magazine, 14 empty magazines, a plastic bag of bullets and two hand bombs and something that looks like a launcher.

In January, police found several M14 semi-automatic rifles, pistols and ammunition. These were found near some houses in Kampung Tanduo.

Apparently, the serial numbers in the January find had rusted away and they were unreadable.

The weapons themselves appeared to be heavily damaged, having rusted away and were unserviceable.

Lahad Datu was the scene of a military standoff with the so-called royal security forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

It began on Feb 11, 2013 when 235 militants arrived in Lahad Datu from the southern Philippines. It is believed the intruders set off in boats from Simunul island, Tawi-Tawi.

They claimed to be acting on the instructions of Jamalul Kiram III, one of the 60 odd claimants to the defunct Sulu sultanate.

By the time the standoff ended on March 24, 43 days later, the death toll included 56 militants, six civilians and 10 members of the Malaysian security forces.

The so-called Sabah claim is not territorial.

The Sulu claimants say the defunct sultanate had the right to collect toll along the main waterways in the southern part of the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (EssZone).

Some claimants say the Brunei sultanate gave toll collecting rights in the northern EssZone to the defunct sultanate.