An organised crime group based in Swansea was responsible for stealing high-value cars from around Wales and England, a court has heard. The gang stole vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and disguised their origin with cloned plates and fraudulently obtained DVLA documents before disposing of them.
Operation unravels after tracker alert
Swansea Crown Court heard that many of the cars were "stolen to order" and most have never been traced or recovered, but some are known to have ended up in Cyprus. Ian Wright, prosecuting, told the court that the defendant Sean McCabe was responsible for "orchestrating and organising" the theft of high-value motor vehicles from around Wales and England and that he also recruited other people to assist him.
The court heard that the operation began to unravel on July 15 last year when South Wales Police received a report from vehicle tracking firm TrackerUK that one of its units was at a location in Felindre, north of Swansea. When officers arrived on the scene they found eight stolen vehicles and a trailer parked in a field.
A number of males were present in the field - two made off on foot and a quadbike, and the rest were spoken to and their details taken. The court heard that the vehicles were searched and in one of them officers found packaging bearing the name and address of McCabe.
Phone messages reveal network
The defendant was arrested later that day and his phone was seized. The prosecutor said McCabe refused to reveal the PIN for the device but officers were able to get into it and download the contents. The barrister said that the recovered messages showed the scale of McCabe's operation and his network of criminal contacts around Wales and England. They also detailed the discussions he was having about techniques and tools for stealing keyless entry cars, and conversations with others about the buying and selling of stolen vehicles.
The court heard the messages showed McCabe had bought a machine for making fake number plates from a criminal contact in Barnsley as well as electrical items for bypassing keyless entry systems, and that Michael Brain was responsible for collecting those goods from the supplier across the border. The court heard that automatic number plate recognition camera evidence and communication data showed that Brain made multiple journeys during May and June 2025 at the behest of McCabe.
The court also heard that text evidence showed McCabe discussed stealing individual cars with another co-defendant, Daniel Bryant, with McCabe giving his co-defendant instructions on what to do. In one of the text exchanges Bryant discussed stealing a car he had seen in Skewen, while in another he asked McCabe whether the electronic devices the gang used would work on a Nissan Juke he wanted to steal. McCabe told him they would.
Gang members and methods
The prosecutor said another member of the gang was Jake Thomas, who was also in regular phone contact with McCabe. The pair discussed stealing cars, with Thomas offering to sell stolen cars to McCabe, and McCabe replying that he could take "a few a night". McCabe asked Thomas to keep his eyes peeled for Range Rovers and Jaguars in particular.
The court heard another important part of the network was Mumen Khan, who at the time of the conspiracy worked as a delivery driver for the Synter BMW dealership. The prosecutor said Khan "exploited" his role with the firm which took him around the UK, and he said on one occasion the defendant texted the co-accused Joshua Pope with the details of where he had just dropped off a BMW M340i for a customer, adding "The one we taking, mush" accompanied by a smiling emoji.
The court heard Khan also used a stolen Toyota Hilux pickup and trailer to collect stolen Land Rover Discoveries and a Range Rover Sport from Birmingham on behalf of McCabe. On these occasions he referred to himself as "Sean's boy with the trailer" to criminal contacts in the West Midlands. The court heard that in one of the messages Khan sent to McCabe he talked about having a gun pulled on him during the trips, and how he might get a weapon to defend himself.
The prosecutor said Khan was also in touch with another member of the network, Pope, who Khan had stored in his phone as "Log book Josh". He said Pope was "involved with a great number of stolen cars" and was in regular contact with McCabe.
Disguising stolen vehicles
The court heard that in order to "legitimise" their stolen vehicles the gang used cloned number plates, changed vehicle identification numbers or VINs, and often resprayed cars or rebadged them - for example changing a Seat Ateca stolen from the West Midlands into a Cupra Ateca - to disguise their true identity and apply for new registration documentation from the DVLA.
The barrister said it was difficult to put a total value on the car thefts but said based on the average value of the vehicles identified by police, the prosecution put the value at some £328,000. The court heard that many of the vehicles were "stolen to order" and most have never been traced, while some are known to have been sold on, including a Jaguar F-Pace sold by McCabe's partner Lindsey Martin and subsequently exported to Cyprus. A Mercedes GLA stolen by the gang is also believed to have ended up in Cyprus.
The court heard that as well as running the car theft organised crime group, McCabe was also involved in the "commercial scale" supply of cocaine and cannabis. Messages recovered from his phone showed discussions about kilo quantities of both drugs and about plans by McCabe to use drones to deliver drugs to HMP Parc and HMP Swansea. The prosecutor said that one of the people working for McCabe in the cannabis supply operation was Steffan Hopkins, who went by the nickname "Cheddar".
The court heard that the defendant Thomas was also involved in supplying drugs - with phone evidence recovered during the investigation detailing his involvement in selling heroin, ketamine, cocaine and cannabis - while Brain was involved in a conspiracy with others not before the court to supply cocaine.
Defendants and sentencing
Sean McCabe, 33, of Pen y Graig Road, Townhill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to supply cocaine, and conspiracy to supply cannabis when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Lindsey Martin, 31, also of Pen y Graig Road, Townhill, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud when she appeared alongside her partner. Her plea was entered on the basis that she was only involved in registering four vehicles and though she knew they had been obtained illegally she didn't know the details and did not know about any other vehicles.
Daniel Bryant, 36, of Matthew Street, Dyfatty, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, being concerned in supply of cocaine, and being concerned in the supply of cannabis when he appeared in the dock.
Michael Brain, 41, of Cil y Coed, Waunarlwydd, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, possession of ketamine with intent to supply, and possession of heroin with intent to supply when he returned to court.
Mumen Khan, 24, of Heol y Nant, Bridgend, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles when he appeared in the dock alongside the co-defendants.
Joshua Pope, 33, of Bryn Parc, Morriston, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and conspiracy to commit fraud when he appeared in the dock.
Jake Thomas, 29, of Woodford Road, Blaenymaes, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, being concerned in supply of heroin, being concerned in supply of ketamine, being concerned in supply of cocaine, and being concerned in supply of cannabis when he returned to the dock.
Steffan Hopkins, 27, of Park Avenue, Plasmarl, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and to the simple possession of cannabis.
The defendants will return to court at a date to be fixed next week for sentencing.
