A MAN who left his £50,000 Mercedes with airport meet and greet parking says his car had disappeared when he came back from holiday. The holidaymaker was duped into giving an international crime gang the keys to his silver C220 AMG Mercedes at Manchester Airport. Scammers working for the gang forged documents to trick drivers into believing they worked for a legit airport parking firm.
When the driver got back from his holiday, he rang up the real company - and twigged he had been scammed. The Mercedes was just one of 100 top-end motors stolen by the "chop shop" gang - with a total value of around £3million. Some cars were stolen in terrifying robberies or hold-ups before they were shipped overseas.
Read More Motors One motor was stolen off a driveway while its owner was on holiday abroad. Another time the gangsters slipped into a house and stole the keys while the owners were relaxing in the garden. In the most shocking theft of all, the gang warned a man to stay inside his home while they stole his car - or else they would kill him.
But 14 gang members are now behind bars after cops unravelled the multi-million pound conspiracy. Most read in Motors Phones seized by detectives revealed "shopping lists" of luxury motors including Range Rovers and Land Rovers stolen to order. A forensic search of the phones also revealed videos of the gangsters scoping out cars.
In one clip, Bolton crook Sajid Jangharia films a Range Rover and is heard saying: "It's fresh." A two-year probe .