Boston man Erikas Anzelis jailed for five years after ‘chop shop’ discovered in Upwell

A man has been jailed for five years after stealing vehicles worth more than £200,000 for a ‘chop shop’.

Erikas Anzelis, a 43-year-old of Laughton Road, Boston, was sentenced to five years in prison at Norwich Crown Court, in Norfolk, on Friday.

He took part in a ‘chop shop’ operation at Upwell, also in Norfolk, with Irmantas Spudys, a 45-year-old with no fixed address, where stolen cars with a combined value of £217,195, were dismantled for their parts.

Two Porches, two BMWs and a Mercedes were among the vehicles discovered when officers found the site on November 23 as part of Operation Moonshot.

Anzelis and Spudys were arrested and taken to King’s Lynn Investigation Centre for questioning and subsequently charged with six counts of handling stolen goods as well as one count of interfering with wireless telegraphy using a signal jammer.

Both denied the charges but were later found guilty by a jury during a three-day-long trial at the same court back in May.

Efforts had been made to hide the vehicles’ identities, but officers were able to match them as being stolen from Wiltshire, Hampshire, Thames Valley, and Greater Manchester.

PC Imogen Douglas-De-Fenzi said: “This was a serious and organised enterprise which requires skills and planning to steal, transport, and then strip down the vehicles, usually sending the parts abroad.

“Car theft can have a devastating effect, and we will continue to work to dismantle the organised criminal groups behind them to achieve results as we have in this case.”