Police raided a house in Stairfoot as a force-wide operation to 'drive criminals off the roads' was launched in Barnsley.
Officers acted after receiving intelligence which suggested the property on Wombwell Lane was being used to conceal drugs and stolen property.
Sniffer dogs were sent in after the end terraced house had been secured.
Inspector Ricahrd Burgess led the operation in Barnsley and said it was one of many raids due to take place across South Yorkshire. He said there were close links between the drugs trade and auto crime.
He added that a rise in car thefts and thefts from vehicles had coincided with the economic downturn. The operation was about targeting criminals while reassuring communities that the force was doing its job, he said.
"We want to take some positive action to prevent and reduce those offences. This is our effort to try to reassure the communities, we are bringing offenders to justice."
In Barnsley much of the operation was focussed on the Dearne Valley and Cudworth and some of the scrap yards in those areas.
Community officers were heading out on the beat to telling people how to avoid becoming a victim of auto crime.
Operation Impact will run for a month across the force.
