Ultimate cut and shut: Romanian thieves take apart top-of-the-range BMW and pack it into their van to ship it across border

Romanian thieves are under arrest in Hungary after being caught



They were trying to cross from Austria when they were pulled over

Police found a dismantled BMW X6 stuffed in the back of their van



A gang of car thieves have been caught trying to move a stolen BMW across a border after taking it apart and stuffing it in the back of a van.

The Romanian thieves are under arrest in Hungary after being stopped on their way back to their homeland with the dismantled top-of-the-range BMW X6.

Hungarian border police spokesman Inspector Santha David said the crooks had just crossed into Hungary from Austria when they were pulled over for a spot check.

Romanian car thieves are under arrest in Hungary after being stopped on their way back to their homeland with a dismantled top-of-the-range BMW X6 car in the back of their truck

Florin Vasilescu, 29, and Calin Dobre, 43, were found to have taken apart the costly car and loaded it aboard their VW transporter van to take back to Romania.

Inspector David said: 'It was like that old Johnny Cash song, about the car plant worker who steals a car one piece at a time.

'Well, they were patient enough to take this vehicle to pieces with the aim of re-assembling it once they got back home.'

Police suspect the duo stole the car to order in Italy and would have received a reward for their efforts once it was rebuilt and handed over to the client.

Hungarian border police spokesman Inspector Santha David said the crooks had just crossed into Hungary from Austria when they were pulled over for a spot check

Florin Vasilescu, 29, and Calin Dobre, 43, were found to have taken apart the costly car and loaded it aboard their VW transporter van to take back to Romania How it should look: A luxury BMW X6 (file pictured)

Such thefts are commonplace across Europe with most luxury cars being shipped

Such thefts are commonplace across Europe with most luxury cars being shipped eastwards by criminal gangs operating in Romania, Bulgaria and other former communist bloc states.

Dismantling cars is the latest trick to try to get around improved police surveillance of stolen vehicles.

'They calculated that it was more of a risk to drive the vehicle after they stole it than taking it apart and loading it into a big van,' added Insp David.