A man from Forest Gate has been jailed for his part in a major car ringing operation involving high-value London vehicles.

Newham Recorder: Equipment used to ring cars that was seized by policeEquipment used to ring cars that was seized by police (Image: Met police)

Amir Rashid, 26, of Sebert Road was sentenced to five years and four months at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

The 11-men gang of which he was a member stole vehicles such as BMW 5 and 6 Series and Range Rovers to order, before altering their identities to make them appear legitimate in a process known as ringing.

Detectives recovered more than 40 stolen vehicles that had been stolen and altered, valued at a total of about £1.5 million, in a co-ordinated operation between the Met and the DVLA. The men were arrested in June 2014.

Mr Rashid pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert, and remove criminal property along with several other gang members.

The criminal activities involved the gang identifying vehicles that had been exported from the UK, before making fraudulent applications for their logbooks from the DVLA to make the stolen vehicles look legitimate.

The majority of vehicles were stolen overnight in keyless thefts, while others were stolen by gang members posing as prospective purchasers of vehicles advertised for sale. They then stole the vehicle during the course of a test drive.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Peter Ellis, said: “These individuals were well organised and employed sophisticated methods, both to steal the vehicles and to change their identities.

“They were ultimately responsible for the theft of a substantial number of high value vehicles, worth millions of pounds.”