Designer perfumes, bottles of champagne and electrical equipment were among items seized by police yesterday when they raided a store as part of an investigation into the sale of stolen goods.
A 25-year-old man was arrested following the raid, in which 10 uniformed and plain clothes officers entered Barns Road Food Store, in Barns Road, East Oxford, at about 2.30pm and searched the premises.
Clothing, perfumes and alcohol were seized together with a laptop computer and digital radio, which are believed to have been stolen in burglaries across the city.
Out-of-date stock and meat products were also found to be on sale in the shop. Trading Standards officers have been alerted.
One man has been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and police say their investigations are ongoing.
A number of people who were in the shop are being spoken to by police, but at the time of going to press no further arrests had been made.
The raid was the result of a series of tip-offs from the public and was carried out as part of Operation Backlash. Det Sgt Tony Lees, of the Oxford burglary team, said the raid had been a success.
He said: "We had been getting intelligence from members of the public and had to act on it. We're not here to deal with lawful shop traders, but the intelligence we get we act on and if someone suggests there's stolen property going into premises, we will look into it.
"Early indications are that it's been a success, which is good for the Backlash team."
PC Steve Lockwood, who led the raid, said: "We have found lots of items which are definitely going to lead to further inquiries."
Det Sgt Lees added: "The vast majority of items stolen in burglaries will be sold on for small amounts to people willing to handle stolen property.
"Although these people are not the ones necessarily breaking into homes or stealing from shops, they do still provide somewhere for criminals to offload stolen goods for money.
"We are just as rigorous in tracking down those involved in handling stolen goods as we are with the burglars and robbers.
"If you have information on anyone who may be involved in these crimes, or who may be hand- ling stolen goods, then I urge you to get in touch with us so we can put a stop to their activities and make Oxford a safer place for us all."
If you have any information call Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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