POLICE raided dozens of homes throughout Kirklees in three days of dawn raids.

The major operation led to 26 alleged persistent offenders being arrested.

Senior officers expect more than £100,000 worth of stolen goods to be recovered or accounted for during the raids.

High value electrical equipment, stolen cars and drugs were also found during the police raids.

Det Chief Insp Dave Knopwood, crime manager for the Kirklees division, said: “This is the culmination of an extremely thorough and detailed six-month investigation which has been intelligence and evidence led.

“Our teams have worked really hard to target and track key offenders in Kirklees who are committing burglaries and other offences.”

Police targeted suspected thieves, persistent offenders and drug dealers during three days of dawn raids.

Eight search and arrest teams targeted properties throughout Kirklees on Monday, yesterday and throughout today.

Items worth more than £100,000 have been recovered as a result of the operation so far.

They include electrical equipment such as wide-screen television sets and expensive laptop computers.

Police expect to find more later today.

One the first day of the dawn raids, police found all their targets and made 10 arrests, with 26 charges between the 10 offenders.

Property and cash were recovered at the homes of those arrested.

Stolen property the suspected offenders are said to be responsible for amounts to £51,000 with a further £38,000 worth of stolen vehicles recovered.

Drugs worth a street value of £1,000 were recovered from a Huddersfield drugs den on Monday. The cannabis plants were taken by police as evidence.

Police also seized cash worth a total of £1,500, which they believe to be profits of crime, at one Huddersfield address.

Eight teams of officers targeted the offenders in a clampdown on organised crime.

Det Insp Tony Kaye said: “Kirklees officers have worked really hard for six months, we have bust a gut to get this evidence.

“There are a lot of victims of crime out there and these offenders are going to be victims of our success.”

Operation Embleton got underway as police launched their latest initiative to crackdown on thieves.

The Hand in a Handler campaign is aimed at encouraging people to report those who handle or receive stolen property.

Police want intelligence about people who steal goods and sell them on, often to unsuspecting buyers.

Det Chief Insp Knopwood added: “We rely on the public for information and much of the work police do comes about from information given to us by members of the public.

“We want that to continue happening.”