Stolen Audi from Wiltshire found in illegal garage 100 miles away

An Audi S3 that was stolen in Hullavington was found 100 miles away – and police busted a “serious organized crime ring” as they tracked it down.

They tracked the car to a garage in Coventry, which turned out to be a ‘shop-shop’ where stolen cars are stripped for parts.

The investigations began after the County Burglary Team received, on Friday, May 3, a report of a burglary in the village.

Car keys were stolen from an address and an Audi S3, a BMW X3 and a Volkswagen California were stolen.

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The Volkswagen was located crashed not far from the scene and recovered, however the Audi and BMW remained outstanding.

An investigation was launched by the team and extensive inquiries led officers to an area of ​​Coventry where they located the stolen Audi in the forecourt of a garage on cloned plates.

Further inquiries were carried out at the garage which led to the discovery of what is believed to be an illegal garage known as a ‘cutting shop’.

There, two other partially stripped stolen vehicles were found plus a significant amount of auto parts believed to have been stripped from other stolen vehicles.

Investigations determined that this garage was directly linked to the theft of two more high value vehicles.

The team also found a stolen Ford Fiesta ST on cloned number plates and the total value of the stolen property located is suspected to be worth more than £150,000.

PC Jack Williams, from the County Burglary Squad, said: “Thanks to the quick reactions of the County Burglary Squad, we were able to locate and recover a high value stolen vehicle before it was inevitably broken up into parts and sold on .

“We have also been able to disrupt a serious organized crime ring and a joint investigation will continue with West Midlands Police.”