A international multi-million pound 'chop shop' organised crime gang had luxury cars, often stolen during terrifying robberies or burglaries, shipped to Dubai.
High end luxury Range Rovers, Mercedes and Porches were stolen to order before being sent to the Middle East or stripped for parts.
More than 95 cars worth at least £3 million were stolen across Greater Manchester, and from as far away as London.
READ MORE : 'Disgusting' pervert in 'Royal Mail uniform' took photos up schoolgirl's skirt in supermarket
The Oldham based gang behind the staggering plot, who called themselves 'The Company', are thought to have links to organised crime in the Middle East.
While praising the work of investigating officers, a judge demanded that the case be investigated by GMP Chief Constable after claiming some of the gang were allowed to commit crime 'with impunity' after being released under investigation.
A total of 11 shipping containers were shipped to the Middle East during a 12 month period.
Of those containers three were recovered, which all contained stolen Range Rovers and stolen parts.
The gang operated 'chop shops' at old mills in Bury and Oldham, as well as a unit in Wigan, where stolen cars were stripped down.
The terror of victims who had their cars stolen, often as they slept in the middle of the night, was laid bare as five members of the gang were jailed for almost 50 years.
One man at home in Failsworth with his three-year-old daughter was told he would be killed if he went outside to investigate, as thieves stole his Mercedes.
Another man was robbed of his car in broad daylight by masked men, while another was at home with his family when masked men, one armed with a hammer, broke into his home.
Gang ringleader Asif Hussain, who posed as a successful businessman and lived in a large detached house in Stockport, was jailed for 15 years, while other senior members of the OCG also faced justice.
Hussain and others responsible for the conspiracy to steal and export cars were prosecuted, but the robbers and burglars have not been caught.
Judge Anthony Cross QC said senior members of the gang were well aware of how the cars came into their possession.
"This was a professional operation led by career criminals who were motivated by profit and greed, and who cared for not one moment how the expensive vehicles came into their possession," he said.
Hadir Ali was jailed for 11 years, Saijid Jangharia for 10 years, Tayub Hasnain for five years and six months and Ibraaz Shafique was sentenced to five years.
The conspirators discussed their crimes on a WhatsApp group named 'The Company', Manchester Crown Court heard.
A painstaking police investigation revealed that the gang targeted high value cars, and once stolen either stripping them for parts or exporting them to the Middle East.
Cars were stolen with the help of high-tech gadgets including portable frequency jammers, allowing keyless entry to Range Rovers in particular.
One shipping container containing stolen Range Rovers and parts, destined for Dubai, was stopped at Seaforth Dock in Merseyside before it could leave.
Another was recovered in Istanbul, while another container sent to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates was returned unopened.
Police uncovered the first chop shop after a hire car company became suspicious.
An Audi had been loaned out, but the dealership in Oldham was told the car could not be returned in time as it was in London.
Suspicions arose and the dealership used the car's GPS system and discovered was actually in Chadderton, outside Stockfield Mill in Chadderton.
Police attended the unit and found stolen cars and parts.
Undeterred, the gang then moved to a unit behind a Kwik Fit garage in Wigan.
Later police found the engine and gear box for a Range Rover which had been stolen from a house in London, and an engine and gear box from a Porsche stolen in Bolton.
Officers then discovered another 'chop shop' at Vale Mill in Chadderton, a former textiles mill.
It was uncovered after a man was robbed of his Audi in Oldham. The car's tracking software led police to the mill.
The gang then took on a unit at Pioneer Mill in Radcliffe, where further parts of stolen vehicles were found.
"Your greed knew no bounds," Judge Cross told gang ringleader Hussain, who ran a car garage and sales business.
"You knew where the vehicles were coming from and how, yet you took them.
"Not content with selling them to the domestic market you formed a new conspiracy and shipped them abroad."
He said Jangharia was 'at the heart' of the gang, and was 'directly implicated' in the theft of at least 27 vehicles.
Ali was a 'co-founder' of the OCG, and the named tenant at two 'chop shops'.
Judge Cross said he would be asking GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson to investigate after some members of the gang were arrested but later released under investigation.
He said: "On a number of occasions defendants in this case, with bad records were released under investigation.
"It appears yet again police officers failed to make appropriate and obvious enquiries about the men they had arrested.
"Had those checks been made and detained in custody then perhaps some of their victims would have been spared the terrible trauma that befell them.
"That some of these experienced criminals were allowed to commit crime it seems, with impunity, is of some considerable concern."
Hadir Ali, 27, of Lee Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and conspiracy to export.
Saijid Jangharia, 37, of Willows Lane, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to export.
Ibraaz Shafique, 23, of Camberwell Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods, conspiracy to export and fraud.
Asif Hussain, 44, of Tonge Moor Road, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal, conspiracy to handle stolen goods, conspiracy to export and fraud.
Tayub Hasnain, 37, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to handle stolen goods and was jailed for five years and six months.
Another man, Mohammed Abdullah, 23, of Lee Street, Oldham, received a two year suspended prison sentence after admitting conspiracy to handle stolen goods.
