Gang behind luxury car 'chop shop' ring jailed

Six of the men were jailed for their roles in the gang

Members of a gang that stole up to 100 luxury cars worth about £3m and sold them in the Middle East in a huge international "chop shop" ring have been jailed.

The group, who called themselves The Company, used warehouses in Oldham, Bury and Wigan to strip the vehicles stolen from Greater Manchester and then transport them overseas via shipping containers.

Seven men from Bolton, Chadderton, Oldham and Tameside were sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court for their role in the operation.

Detective Chief Inspector Roger Smethurst, of Greater Manchester Police, said the gang was the "most organised group of criminals we've come across", with cars stolen "in seconds in some cases".

Police raided the gang's warehouses and found stripped car parts

The convictions come after seven other men were sentenced in 2022 for their roles in the operation, including Asif Hussain, the Bolton man identified by police as the ringleader of the gang.

The group stole 97 vehicles between 2020 and 2021, including Ranger Rover, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes brands.

Asif Matadar, 40, of Bolton, was jailed for three years and six months for conspiracy to steal, while Zeeshan Ali, 34, of Tameside, was jailed for three years and nine months for conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Shewaz Rehman, 29, of Oldham, was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail for conspiracy to handle stolen goods, and Imran Taj, 43, also of Oldham, was jailed for four years on the same charge

Adam Elwood, 30, of Chadderton, was jailed for six years for two counts of handling stolen goods and drug offences, and Mohammed Irfan, 26, of Oldham, was jailed for three years for conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

James Hopkinson, 29, of Oldham, was handed an eight-month sentence suspended for 12 months for handling stolen goods.

The gang had threatened to kill one of their victims with a hammer before stealing one of the vehicles.

Other cars were taken when the gang posed as valets at Manchester airport.

"Car theft has a massive impact on people’s lives,2 DCI Smethurst said.

"A lot of people had these cars on finance agreements, and were left thousands of pounds out of pocket."

Detective chief inspector Roger Smethurst said the gang had operated "at scale"

DCI Smethurst said the police investigation began in 2019 after reports from the public led officers to raid a number of chop shops where the gangs stripped parts from the stolen cars.

Officers then established that a hire car had been seen at the scenes where the vehicles were stolen, allowing detectives to track down the group.

Each time police discovered where they were operating, the gang moved their operation between industrial units in Greater Manchester, the court heard.

The gang's mobile phones were seized, allowing officers to find evidence including "shopping lists" for vehicle parts, along with incriminating texts and images.

They also included videos of member scoping out a car before stealing it.

Police intercepted 11 containers between 2020 and 2021 at Seaforth dock, north of Liverpool, containing stolen vehicles linked to the gang.

They were destined for Turkey and two cities in the United Arab Emirates.

Detective Constable Allan Barker said the gang had "sophisticated connections in prominent areas across the globe".

It meant they were "able to ship millions of pounds of stolen cars and vehicle parts overseas".

The force has been trying to track down another gang member who fled the country, and those suspected of facilitating the sale of the cars in the Middle East.