OFFICERS recovered more than £20,000 of suspected stolen goods and arrested three people as part of an ongoing operation to target theft at Stansted Airport.

Officers in the airport’s Neighbourhood Policing team had received reports of thefts of perfume and tobacco in March this year.

Following several lines of enquiry and building up an intelligence picture of the offences, officers at the airport identified when the next thefts were expected to take place and arrested three suspects early on Monday 7 April.

A 33-year-old man from Braintree, a 41-year-old man from Braintree and a 33-year old man from Takeley were all arrested on suspicion of theft and have been bailed pending further enquiries from our team.

In addition to £9,000 of tobacco, cigarettes and perfume found in the possession of those arrested, officers also searched addresses linked to the men and located another £14,000 of goods believed to be stolen.

A total of 432 packets of cigarettes, 311 pouches of tobacco and 27 bottles of perfume were recovered, as well as an additional £1,000 in cash at one of the addresses.

Inspector Tom Stokes, said: “This is a huge volume of stolen goods kept out of criminal’s hands.

“It shows the hard work carried out by our officers at the airport to protect businesses and the public.”