A gang of car thieves who conspired to steal high value motors from the most affluent areas of the capital has been jailed for a total of 20 years.
The three men travelled across London and the Home Counties, striking in the early hours and taking cars from outside of victims' homes.
The Lithuanian gang targeted BMWs and other high-value vehicles with electronic ignitions, using specialist equipment to clone the cars' digital keys.
The vehicles would then be broken down at an unknown location or would be given new identities in order to be sold on.
The men denied the offences but were found guilty following a 16-week trial and were jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
Vitalius Lapinskas, 41, of Lawrence Crescent, Dagenham was found guilty and jailed for four and a half years for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and 18 months to run consecutively for conspiracy to receive stolen goods.
Juozas Franckevicius, 37, of Hedingham Road, Dagenham was found guilty and jailed for four years for conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and five years consecutively for conspiracy to receive stolen goods.
Edmundas Barkauskas, 36, of Hedingham Road, Dagenham was found guilty of conspiracy to receive stolen goods and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
The men were caught following an investigation by officers from the London Crime Squad in August 2014 following a spate of thefts of high value vehicles across London and the Home Counties.
DI Garry Poole, from the London Crime Squad, said: "This was a highly sophisticated organised criminal gang responsible for a high volume of vehicle thefts within London and the Home Counties over a prolonged period.
"The sentences given send a clear message that the police and courts will robustly deal with those involved in this type of criminality."
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