An Eastern European gang who ran a £1m luxury vehicle “chop shop” breaking down high performance cars stolen from household drives across the UK, have been jailed. The five-strong crew were in possession of stolen cars and parts worth in excess of £750,000 when police raided their Surry hideaway. The true extent of their offending is believed to far exceed the amount police were able to discover after finally snaring the gang.

High-value cars, including Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs were stolen from locations as far afield as Doncaster, Bristol, Sheffield and Warwick with the thieves using ‘relay theft’ method of using a computer to trick cars into automatically opening with their with keyless entry-system that should only work when a key fob comes within short distance of a car. Not only does relay theft open the doors but it also allows the ignition to be started.

The gang were all wearing gloves and facemasks and the licence plates were then changed, and the cars were driven to a remote farm site near Dunsfold Aerodrome in Cranleigh, Surrey.

It was here the men dismantled the vehicles on site and loaded them into vans to be taken to a second location in Sawtry, Cambridgeshire.

Police were eventually alerted by a hidden tracking system installed into one of the stolen cars that led them to the Surrey site.

They then carried out surveillance before a raid led to the seizure of hundreds of vehicle parts that had been broken down before being taken away by vehicle transporters.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras were used to identify vehicles of the same make and model near to where the thefts occurred, but with different licence plates.

A further “chop shop” was operating in Chertsey, where police found more parts from stolen vehicles.

Five gang members have now been jailed for a total of more than five years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen goods between 6 October 2023 and 11 October 2024 at Guilford Crown Court.

Deividas Jakaitis, 41, was sentenced to 32 months behind bars,  Irmantas Lozuraitis, 44,  received an eight month term whilst Gytis Kirsinika, 25,  was sentenced to seven months jail.

Eimantas Mikalauskas, 23, was sentenced to six months  and Raimundas Dumcius, 24,  was sentenced to eight months jail.

Samantha Mitchell from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This gang were highly professional, targeting high-value cars and leaving limited forensic evidence. They thought that by changing number plates on the vehicles as soon as they had been stolen would help them to evade justice, but they were wrong.

“Thanks to a detailed police investigation and the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to track the cars, the police were able to identify vehicles of the same make and model, all of which made their way to the “chop shop” in Surrey.

“Our strong working relationship with Surrey Police and the dedication of the officers involved enabled us to put together such a strong case that all of the gang eventually chose to plead guilty.”