91Èȱ¬

Four people have been charged in connection with a series of high-value burglaries which included the home of a Premier League footballer.

The home of Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Northumberland, was broken into and his car stolen earlier this month.

Cash, thousands of pounds of designer clothes, and jewellery worth £1m was also taken from other homes in Sunderland and Newcastle.

Det Insp Shaun Fordy, from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU), said "these types of crimes will not be tolerated".

Isak's home was broken into on 4 April but his car was later found abandoned three-miles away in Dissington, police said.

Cash, expensive clothes and jewellery worth £1m were taken from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond in March.

Jewellery worth £100,000, designer clothes and money were also taken from a house on Woodlands Grove in Sunderland.

Some of the property was later recovered by officers, NEROCU said.

Four Croatian nationals, aged 23, 27, 31, and 42, who had recently travelled to the UK from Italy, were arrested on Friday in the West Midlands.

They have been charged with burglary and are due to appear at Bedlington Magistrates' Court later.

Det Insp Fordy said the arrests had been made by NEROCU working in partnership with Northumbria Police.

“This operation demonstrates that these types of crimes will not be tolerated in our region, and the incredible lengths we will go to protect our communities," he said.

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