Wellington  - New Zealand authorities are baffled by a mystery cache of machine guns, bullets, grenades and mortar bombs found in a shipping container from China in the South Island port of Dunedin, according to news reports on Wednesday.

Customs spokesman Rowan McArthur said the intended destination of the container, whose contents were discovered by a random X-ray, was not known.

Army bomb-squad experts said the munitions were safe from accidental explosion. (dpa)