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A pickpocket gang have been jailed for a total of 30 years after amassing more than £5 million pounds - by stealing mobile phones.

The sophisticated gang of 11 thieves worked strict 'office hours' between 2pm and 10pm, earning almost £10,000 a day nabbing mobile phones from commuters on the London Underground.

British Transport police discovered that Nawid Moshfiq was identified as "the boss" behind the thefts.

More than 100 officers raided private properties and businesses where more than a thousand smart phones and £143,000 were seized.

At one address, officers seized more than £23,000 which had been hidden in different rooms of the house, including inside a child's jacket.

Police believe the gang made around £5 million selling their ill-gotten gains.

Operation Park, which began almost two-and-a-half years ago, resulted in the 11 being sentenced over two trials with conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering offences.

Ringleader Moshfiq, 39, from Brentford, Essex, was sentenced to five years behind bars for conspiracy to handle stolen goods, three years for money laundering and 18 months for possession of criminal property, running concurrently.

His associates - Paramijit Singh Kalra, 42, Harmet Bhatia, 24, Pritbal Bhatia, 55, and Nirmohan Bhatia, 20, all from Northolt, north west London, as well as Ranjit Banger, 31, and Mubarak Korasi, 41, from Southall, west London, were imprisoned.

Ahmed Raza, 28, from Leyton, east London, Ariji Singh Sethi, 43, from Hounslow, west London, and Nirmohan Singh, 38, also received prison sentences varying between two and three years long.

They were all on sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court August 13, and December 2, 8, and 21.

Detective Chief Inspector John Justice said: "This was a long and complex investigation into a highly organised criminal gang who used stolen property from the rail network for their personal gain.

"To truly tackle theft, we can't just catch pickpockets and petty thieves; we have to also dismantle the criminal networks behind them, who profit from this type of crime.

"Phones are often stolen out of view of CCTV in crowded carriages or busy stations without the owner even realising.

"This makes it hard for us to catch thieves in the act and even when we do, we often find they are only small players in much bigger criminal organisations.

"This investigation shows how tirelessly we will work to bring these people before the courts and I welcome the sentences handed down to the defendants."