Around £100,000 has been seized by West Yorkshire Police and a large amount of stolen metal recovered after raids on scrap metal yards in the area.
So far, 10 yards have been raided with more to take place, and 28 people have been arrested.
West Yorkshire Police assistant chief constable Geoff Dodd said: “The number of instances of metal theft in West Yorkshire are falling, but there is still a lot of work to be done and this operation sends out a loud and clear message that we mean business.
“During this operation we have raided 10 dealers, but there are many, many more scrap metal dealers in West Yorkshire. The majority of them work with us to stop the movement of stolen metal.
“We have been working closely with representatives of the trade, as well as neighbouring forces and regional partners in Government and industry to better regulate this area.”
Of the 28 people arrested, 26 are men aged between 19 and 74 and two are women. Of these, eight have been released on police bail, eight have been charged with handling stolen metal and the remainder are in police custody.
