Two prolific car thieves have been jailed for more than 10 years at Kingston Crown Court today, Tuesday, 26 November following a major operation targeting high value vehicle theft in central London.

The operation was led by the Met’s Organised Vehicle Crime Unit and targeted a duo involved in stealing a number of cars left parked on the street at night.

Tariq Elgzaly, 36 (13.11.1982) of Westbourne Grove, W11 was jailed for six years and his accomplice, Hakim Aziz 30 (09.2.1988) of Sutherland Avenue, W9 was jailed for four years and four months.

The pair used key programming technology – often named ‘keyless car theft’ – to steal prestige vehicles such as Range Rovers, BMWs and Jaguars.

Between January 2015 and December 2017, police identified more than 30 offences that the suspects were responsible for. The vehicles stolen in the offences were worth more than £1million.

Once stolen, the cars were either sold for export or to other criminals after they disguised the identity with false plates.

Police linked the offences and launched an investigation. On Wednesday, 6 December 2017, the operation culminated in the execution of a series of search warrants. The first was at an address in Gunter Grove, SW10 where ringleader Tarik Elgazly was staying. Various property was seized including a quantity of ‘blank’ vehicle keys and devices used to block the signal of tracking devices fitted to vehicles.

A warrant was also executed at a flat in Lonsdale Road, W11 where Elgazly has been observed with the stolen vehicles. A cupboard containing equipment needed to steal a vehicle and change its identity was discovered. Among this was a laptop, forged logbooks, tools required to manufacture number plates and devices used to programme new keys for vehicles.

On the same date, police searched Aziz’s address, in Sutherland Avenue W9. Five ‘blank’ vehicle keys were recovered.

Following the searches, both Elgazly and Aziz was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to convert criminal property.

Forensic analysis of the laptop seized revealed that it has been used to manufacture 172 sets of false number plates. Police enquiries identified that 29 of these had been applied to stolen vehicles, amounting to a value of approximately £1,250,000.

The court heard all the plates were likely to have been used on stolen vehicles, giving the total value of the vehicles stolen in excess of £6million.

Both men were charged on 6 December 2017. They were remanded to appear in custody at Southwark Crown Court where they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convert criminal property. The count of conspiracy to steal was left on file.

Detective Sergeant Pete Ellis, who led the investigation, said: “This was an extremely prolific and well-organised criminal operation.

“The evidence gathered by my team during the operation linked the duo to a substantial number of offences in a short space of time. It became clear from the material on the laptop that the true number of stolen vehicles involved was very significant. Both men had been active stealing high-end cars for an extended period of time prior to our intervention.

“I hope today’s sentence serves as a deterrent to those involved in this type of brazen criminality and reminds them that we will not stop bringing those responsible to justice.”