Four men and a woman were arrested yesterday by police investigating the desecration of an 82-year-old woman's grave at a Staffordshire churchyard and the removal of her remains.
A man and a woman were arrested at a house in Gloucester by a team of 25 Staffordshire Police officers.
And three men were arrested in Newchurch, Staffordshire, when their car was stopped by uniformed officers who detained them on suspicion of causing criminal damage locally.
The body of Gladys Hammond was taken from her grave in the grounds of St Peter's Church in Yoxall, Staffordshire, under cover of darkness in October last year.
Mrs Hammond's son-in-law co-owns a guinea pig breeding farm in nearby Newchurch which has been targeted by animal rights campaigners.
Two men and a woman arrested in connection with the offence last year remain on police bail.
Yesterday morning's arrests - both raids happened at about 6am - followed a fresh appeal for information on BBC1's Crimewatch UK programme on Tuesday night.
The 32-year-old man and 30- year- old woman were detained at an address in Lysons Avenue, where search experts were expected to remain for several hours.
Last night a spokesman said two of the three being held at Burton police station were from Wolverhampton and the third came from Birmingham.
Mrs Hammond's remains have not been recovered.
