Three people have been arrested for allegedly stealing axes from a hardware store in Coconut Grove as part of a new police operation cracking down on offenders from Wadeye.
Operation Tarn began on Monday when police investigations showed a high number of offenders in Darwin coming from the remote community.
A 24-year-old Wadeye man is accused of stealing an axe from hardware business before pushing past the store’s manager and walking out on Monday.
Later that day an unidentified man allegedly stole another axe and also threatened a staff member for trying to intervene.
A review of CCTV footage showed several men and youths stealing weapons from the store in the two days before the incidents, resulting in the arrest of a pair of teens aged 13 and 14.
Operation Tarn members later located a hammer and two axes in Ludmilla, believed to have been stolen from the same business.
Police are still searching for the other offenders.
