Stolen Mercs stripped down in THREE HOURS
THESE pictures show a workshop where crooks are suspected to have taken stolen Mercedes to be stripped down for parts in just THREE hours.
Police found three high-end cars at the lock-up. They were almost unrecognisable after being broken down, with parts believed to have been flogged online.
Officers tracked down the suspected dodgy workshop in Shaw by following a stolen car’s tracking device.
They found parts of a car that had been stolen just three hours earlier.
Officers are now searching the lock-up for clues in a bid to track down the criminals who had been using it.
High-end car theft is on the up across Greater Manchester, with gangs targeting desirable models to break down for parts.
Police say criminals’ speed makes it difficult to find and retrieve stolen motors.
Often, by the time a crime has been reported, a car is in bits and its parts advertised online. In the past two months there have been numerous reports of expensive cars being stolen across the region.
A gang of six bala- clava-clad men followed a woman in a Mercedes and threatened her with a hammer on her Saddleworth doorstep in November.
Later that month, also in Saddleworth, an elderly disabled man was threatened with an axe as thugs robbed his £42,000 BMW.
Police said an investigation has been launched to see if crimes across the region are linked. GMP Traffic Officer Matt Picton, said: “There is a gang stealing Mercedes and other high-value cars to strip them down in Oldham and sell the parts.
“A Mercedes was stolen and its tracking device was located inside a lock-up in Oldham.
“When police entered they found three Mercedes stripped right down. One of those cars had only been stolen that morning.
“By the afternoon it had been fully stripped. That is a matter of hours - maybe three or four.
“These people know what they are doing.”