A BURNLEY man has been given a two-year community rehabilitation order for his part in a £6.5million international car theft racket.
Naveed Parvez, 28, of Abel Street, Burnley, was part of a crime gang - dubbed the "Gone In 60 Seconds Crew" - that hired an expert team of thieves to steal 142 luxury cars to order for export out of Britain.
He was among five men to appear at Manchester Crown Court yesterday.
The top-of-the-range cars, including Mercedes and BMWs worth between £20,000 and £80,000, were exported to the Middle East and Singapore. The men were arrested after months of covert police surveillance codenamed Operation Barton.
Parvez, who along with two others was said to have had a minor role, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handling stolen cars at an earlier hearing in June.
The court heard that Mohammed Ilyas, 43, of from Ilford, in Essex, and Majid Ghouse, 34, of Wigan, headed the operation.
They were sentenced to eight years and four years in jail respectively.
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