AN international car-theft ring that specialised in luxury vehicles has been smashed by police in the region.

At least £400,000-worth of cars were taken in an operation that covered the length of England and stretched as far as the Baltic.

Yesterday, two Lithuanian gangsters were behind bars after they admitted conspiracy to steal 16 cars, many of which have still not been recovered.

Stanislovas Jankauskas, 25, from London, who was described as the brains of the operation, was sentenced to three years in jail by Judge Paul Hoffman at York Crown Court.

Heavily-tattooed Antanas Galinis, 45, the driver who ferried a succession of luxury cars from Britain to destinations in mainland Europe, was jailed for two years and will be deported.

The inquiry was sparked in March last year when a York woman reported she had been swindled out of her Mercedes saloon.

The case was taken up by North Yorkshire's organised crime unit, which discovered the scam had been repeated across the country.

The victims had advertised their cars -almost all executive models from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Lexus -on websites and been approached by Jankauskas using different names. Using good English, he arranged to buy the vehicles using banker's drafts that turned out to fake.

By the time the seller realised the drafts were useless, Galinis had taken most of the cars, which had been supplied with fake paperwork, out of the country via Dover.

Galinis, who spoke no English, was arrested at the port last August at the wheel of a Mercedes CL500, which had been stolen from Manchester the previous evening.

Jankauskas was arrested in October at his home in London, where evidence was found linking him with the offences.

Detective Sergeant Steve Smith and Detective Constable Simon Caukwell, of the crime unit, were both commended for their work by Judge Hoffman.

Det Sgt Smith said afterwards: "The cars they admitted stealing will be worth around £400,000. I believe they may be responsible for another £100,000-worth, maybe more.

"This is by no means a victimless crime, as although insured, nearly all those who have suffered have received no compensation from insurance companies as their policies do not cover theft by deception -a point many of us would be unaware of.

"This investigation is by no means finished."