Thousands of dollars' worth of stolen property recovered in massive porch pirate bust

Two people face multiple charges in connection with a porch pirate investigation that resulted in police recovering roughly $90,000 worth of stolen jewelry and other stolen property.

• Download the CTV News app to get local alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates sent to your email inbox

A 32-year-old Barrie man and a 25-year-old woman of no fixed address face multiple offences, including theft, fraud and possession of stolen property and drugs, as part of the multi-jurisdictional investigation that launched this month.

South Simcoe Police Services headed up the investigation spanning 16 cities and towns in Central Ontario, assisted by York Region, Barrie, Hamilton, and Waterloo officers.

Police say the thefts were not limited to residential properties but included hotels.

• RELATED: One in four Canadians have had a package stolen by a porch pirate: survey

During the investigation, police executed two search warrants, one at a hotel room in Hamilton and another on a vehicle seized in Innisfil, where they allegedly found stolen property, including a vehicle, clothing, watches, bank cards, government-issued documents, and personal mail that had been shipped and mailed by unsuspecting victims.

Police say officers also seized 18 grams of suspected methamphetamine and 18 grams of suspected fentanyl, leading to additional charges against the suspects.

They say the investigation uncovered a web of complex identity thefts and frauds.

Police are in the process of returning the stolen property to the rightful owners.