Men at the centre of a criminal empire buying, dismantling and exporting stolen cars have been jailed. 

Michael Kozub, 46, from Tooting, and Filip Zablocki, 31, from Mitcham, were described as the ‘go-to’ contacts for car thieves across the south east of England. 

The pair organised stolen cars to be delivered to their chop shop and liaised with an extensive network of convicted car thieves. 

A police investigation began after a previous case which saw various criminals convicted of the thefts of over 125 cars. 

Officers from the Met, Surrey Police and Hampshire Constabulary set out to bring down the lynchpins of the crime gang who were buying the stolen cars.

Last Thursday (September 26) Kozub, of Tooting Bec Road, was sentenced to six years and three months for conspiracy to receive stolen goods while Zablocki, of Sadler Close, was jailed for two years and eight months, for the same offence as well as possession of cocaine. 

Three other men were convicted for their roles in the empire. 

Dominik Mrzyglod, 46, of Fernbank Avenue in Walton-on-Thames, owned a transportation business and was responsible for getting the stolen cars out of the UK.  

He also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years and one month in jail. 

Mariusz Parafiniuk, 49, of Kangley Bridge Road in Lewisham, was the gang’s mechanic. 

He was found guilty of conspiracy to receive stolen goods and received a 15-month sentence suspended for two years and will pay £2000 in costs. 

Detective Inspector Dan Voller of Surrey Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit said: “Today’s sentences are a result of excellent teamwork between a number of teams in Surrey Police and joint working with colleagues in the Metropolitan Police and Hampshire Constabulary. 

“This included hours of meticulous searching through mobile phone evidence to prove there was a case to answer for conspiracy. 

“We traced a web of messages involving numerous people, across multiple phones and social media channels as deals were done for stolen high-value vehicles. 

“Alongside that was detailed analysis of ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) technology as we tracked the cars on their journeys, and of the gang’s bank accounts. 

“Kozub claimed the storage unit was simply where he innocently kept his jet ski, but this was proven to be a lie. We recovered cars to the value of over half a million pounds and believe that the total value of the cars that passed through this gang’s operation is close to a million pounds.” 

Acting Detective Chief Inspector Natalie Parker of the Metropolitan Police’s South Area Proactive Investigations Team said: 

“It was great to work with our policing partners to tackle crime important to our communities. 

“Through joint working it was established that both Surrey Police and the Metropolitan Police had identified members of the same group through separate investigations. 

“Both organisations were then able to pool their resources to ensure a successful outcome for the victims in the case as well as the wider public. 

“In South London alone we saw a reduction in burglaries of over 30% in the aftermath of this operation. I look forward to continue working collaboratively to achieve brilliant outcomes in the pursuit of justice.”