Police have seized a collection of luxury supercars worth £1million including a Rolls Royce and an Aston Martin after finding them hidden in storage containers on an industrial estate.
The high value vehicles were discovered at North Benfleet on February 5 after a police investigation into organised car crime.
Officers recovered four vehicles which had been stolen from the Essex area and two from London.
Essex Police’s Stolen Vehicle Intelligence Unit (SVIU) led teams to carry out the raid.
Officers found a Rolls Royce Cullinan worth £250,000, an Aston Martin DB11 valued at £70,000 and a Mercedes AMG GT valued at £40,000 at the scene, alongside a Range Rover Vogue.
The high value vehicles were discovered at North Benfleet on February 5 after a police investigation into organised car crime
Officers found a Rolls Royce Cullinan worth £250,000, an Aston Martin DB11 (pictured) valued at £70,000 and a Mercedes AMG GT valued at £40,000 at the scene
Police say vehicles worth £1million have gone through the site
A Jeep Wrangler and a Toyota Alphard were also located in two other storage containers. All six vehicles were intact.
Further evidence gathered at the scene to support the investigation shows more vehicles have been through the site, with an estimated total value of just under £1 million.
Chief Inspector Dan McHugh said: ‘This was a great piece of work by all those involved.
‘In just 12 hours from information being pieced together to obtaining a warrant, teams from across the force worked together to recover six high value cars.
‘Our initial enquires estimate almost £1 million worth of cars may have gone through this site and the Rolls Royce was recovered just 24 hours after it was stolen.
‘Our work doesn’t end now we’ve found the cars: we’ll continue to investigate to identify and arrest those responsible for the thefts and reunite the vehicles with their owners.’
The raid was led by Essex Police’s Stolen Vehicle Intelligence Unit (SVIU)
The cars were found hidden in storage containers at an industrial site
The specialist unit recovered more than 700 stolen vehicles last year.
The team’s District Commander added: ‘Our SVIU play an important role in leading the force’s response to tackle this type of crime. They regularly seize stolen cars within hours of them being taken, examine them and use that intelligence to locate other missing vehicles.
‘Their intelligence-led approach shows their determination to tackle vehicle theft as a force priority in which we’ll do all we can to disrupt offenders’ activities by using and sharing intelligence with colleagues, partners and other forces and targeting the use of road networks in an effort to make Essex a hostile place to commit vehicle crime.
‘We are dedicating time and resources to target criminals committing any form of vehicle crime and we’d ask the public to support us and get in contact with us if they have information that could help us locate a stolen vehicle or identify those concerned in vehicle crime.’
