A MAJOR police operation targeting stolen goods in York will feature in a television documentary next week.

Operation Maelstrom was carried out over several months last year to infiltrate criminal gangs dealing in stolen property.

A raid carried out during the operation will feature on the Discovery Channel’s Britain’s Toughest Cops on June 13, at 10pm.

The operation resulted in the recovery of £68,000-worth of stolen property with £28,500-worth returned to the rightful owners. Almost 200 victims of crime have had their stolen property returned to them.

During several raids which were carried out as part of the operation, two cannabis farms were found, and in another case, a child was found to be at risk and was placed under emergency protection.

The operation led to 63 people being arrested, 59 of which were charged with a total of 172 offences ranging from burglary, arson, theft, handling stolen goods, possession of offensive weapons and supplying and conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.

Some of those arrested included a gang of youths operating in the Tang Hall area, who were charged with 69 offences relating to £15,950-worth of stolen goods. They were sentenced to more than 100 hours’ community service and supervision orders.

Another group of five men aged 19 to 31, who were prevalent in the Kexby and Tang Hall areas and were responsible for stealing cars, theft from vehicles and burglary, were charged with offences ranging from conspiracy to steal, theft and vehicle theft. They were sentenced in March to a total of four years’ imprisonment and 400 hours’ unpaid work, with one of the gang disqualified from driving for two years.

Detective Inspector Matt Walker, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Operation Maelstrom was a great success in terms of disrupting and infiltrating the stolen goods market in the York area.

“Local criminals know only too well that North Yorkshire Police is on to them and are now constantly looking over their shoulders wondering whose door is the next one to be opened by the arrest teams.

“It also demonstrates our continued commitment to relentlessly pursue individuals who are committing offences at the expense of law-abiding people.

“No crime is a small crime and stealing property that someone has worked hard to pay for is completely unacceptable.”