Man jailed after £300,000-worth of stolen car parts discovered near Malmesbury

A member of an organised crime group responsible for transporting hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of stolen high-value car parts to a lock-up near Malmesbury for export overseas has been jailed.

Osvaldas Ubarevicius, 31, formerly of Browns Green, Birmingham, was found guilty of conspiring to dishonestly receive stolen goods and possessing criminal property following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.
The Lithuanian national was jailed for 30 months, after which he is due to be deported.
On 22nd April this year, Wiltshire Police received a report from a private tracking company that a 'chop shop' full of high-value vehicles dismantled into parts had been located on farmland near Malmesbury.
Officers attended the lock up, and initial enquiries indicated that the site was likely part of an organised crime network revolving around the export of stolen car parts.
CCTV enquiries linked a white Sprinter van to the site, and two days later the van was stopped by colleagues at Hertfordshire Police.
Parts of a vehicle which had been stolen that same morning were found in the rear of the van, which itself transpired to be stolen, and the driver, Ubarevicius, was arrested.
He was subsequently charged with two offences and remanded into custody.
Investigating officer DC Sue McCartney from CID said: “This operation involved at least £325,000 worth of stolen vehicle parts, with their value likely to increase significantly once sold on.
“Ubarevicius played an important role in this criminal network, which profited from the theft and dismantling of high-value vehicles, causing considerable financial loss, disruption and anxiety to victims.
“I would like to thank the company who reported the lock up in Malmesbury to us, as well as our Forensic Collision Investigation Unit (FCIU), who proactively offered their expertise and spent several weeks examining, identifying, recovering and seizing a significant number of exhibits, in addition to arranging their secure storage.
“This was an excellent example of collaborative working across different departments, resulting in today's sentence.
“Wider enquiries remain ongoing as we continue to identify others involved and disrupt this type of organised criminality.”