JAILED: Eight Black Country men who stole cars to order and shipped parts to Middle East

The gang was sentenced for a conspiracy to steal 4x4 Toyota and Vauxhalls, which they would scour the streets of the Midlands for.

The men - five from Walsall and the rest from Brierley Hill, Dudley, Bilston and London - appeared at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiring to steal motor vehicles and were jailed for a total of 28 years and nine months.

There were 81 thefts and attempted thefts throughout Staffordshire, West Midlands,Warwickshire, West Mercia, Derbyshire and Leicestershire between March 2012 and April 2013.

The makes and models of the vehicles stolen were predominantly Toyota Hilux, Toyota Hiace, Toyota Landcruiser and Vauxhall Brava vehicles, which were taken from properties across Warwickshire in Rugby, Tamworth, Atherstone and Kineton, as well as throughout West Mercia in Bromsgrove, Worcester, Kidderminster, Market Drayton, Bridgnorth and Telford.

The stolen vehicles were dismantled with the engines and gear boxes being exported to the United Arab Emirates, while the remainder of the chassis and shells were weighed in at scrap yards.

The gang had found out that the parts, in particular those from Toyota 2L engines, were in high demand in the Middle East - so they set up a rapidly expanding operation.

A ninth man Yawar Jaffari, 42, from London, had links to the United Arab Emirates and acted as the go-between of the scam.

He would take orders from contacts abroad and pass them on to his accomplices in the Black Country, who then stole whatever had been requested.

The vehicles would then be taken to the Cannock Wood Industrial Estate in Cannock Wood Street, where the men worked from three units.

They started out at a site in Torton Paddock, Kidderminster that was owned by Rocky Butler, of Dudley, but needed to move to bigger premises as demand rocketed.

All eight men were cousins and had grown up together in Blakenall, Walsall. Once they got involved with Jaffari, they began stealing the cars and within weeks had a regular export line running.

The cars were stolen after dark, and the thieves planned ahead by scouring streets for the models they wanted.

Their routes would be drawn up in advance, and as they expanded they moved further afield to work their way across the Midlands.

Police today welcomed the sentences handed out and said many traders had been hit when their work vehicles were stolen.

Chiefs said the complex investigation had spanned months and involved officers from a range of forces.

Leslie Taylor, 33, of Rosewood Court in Bilston, was jailed for four years; Rocky Butler, 35, of Fullwood Crescent in Dudley, got five years and four months; James Bailey, 36, of Edison Road in Walsall was sentenced to five years and four months; Richard Edwards, 29, of Chapel Street in Brierley Hill got two years; James Taylor, 26, of Harden Close in Walsall was jailed for two years and eight months; Terence Gould, 46, of Botany Road, Walsall got two years; Colin Brookes, 30, of Hunter Crescent in Walsall was sentenced to two years; and Paul Kendall, 42, of Irvine Road in Walsall got one year and four months.

Bailey leased out the units in Cannock and, along with Butler and Leslie Taylor, was seen as one of the leaders of the racket.

Police said Leslie Taylor was the main thief, while Butler split his time between stealing the cars and handling the parts after they had been dismantled.

The rest were seen as footsoldiers keeping the operation moving, with Gould passing the car shells on to scrap yards.

Luke Moore, 26, of Leys Crescent in Brierley Hill and Gary Winter, 31, of Goscote Place in Walsall have previously been convicted and sentenced for their parts. Moore received a suspended sentence and Winter was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison.

Jaffari, 42, of Carlton Road in London, got three years and nine months.

DC Karl High, of West Mercia Police, said: "This was a lengthy and complex investigation into a large group of offenders, for a large number of offences across many policing areas.

“A number of policing techniques were deployed to identify and prosecute the persons responsible. It is clear that this was organised criminality for commercial gain. Many of the victims have lost their vehicles including tools used in the course of their trades and professions, preventing them from working and further compounding the offences. This sentencing should serve as a warning that vehicle crime will not be tolerated.”