Police raided a loyalist estate on the outskirts of Belfast after a young Catholic man was "crucified" on a stile.
The operation took place in the Seymour Hill estate where Mr Harry McCartan was savagely beaten before being nailed up on Saturday morning.
A police spokesman says clothing, bats, knives and a computer were seized during the raid on five houses and a derelict flat.
Mr McCartan (23) has branded his attackers cowards. "Nobody should be treated like this," he said. "They are just cowards. I was on my own and it took more than four people to do this. They are lower than animals".
Sources from the Ulster Defence Association have said loyalists were behind the assault but denied the leadership sanctioned it.
Police believe it was connected to an increase in car crime in the area. Mr McCartan was released from prison last month after serving a 15-month sentence for car theft. But Mr McCartan's family claimed it was purely because he was a Catholic.
His brother Neil said Mr McCartan had documentation with his name and address in his car, which had been found around 100 yards from where he had been left.
"They knew that he was from Poleglass and they said, 'We have got a Catholic here'. I think he was left there to die," he said.
PA