A BURNLEY man has admitted being part of a crime gang dubbed the "Gone In 60 Seconds Crew" which ran a £6m car theft racket which spanned the world.

Naveed Parvez, 28, was part of a five-man gang that ran what police described as "an organised crime syndicate" in which they hired an expert team of thieves to steal 142 luxury cars to order for export out of Britain.

Police likened the gang to characters in the hit movie Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie, who gave a team of thieves a "shopping list" of specific cars to steal including top of the range Mercedes, BMWs and a 180mph Maserati worth £80,000.

The real-life thieves would prey on luxury homes across Britain - poking a fishing rod through letter boxes before hooking cars keys left on hall tables in the space of a minute.

The stolen cars would then be given fake registration plates and false documents before being sold on to business addresses and PO Box numbers in foreign countries, including Dubai, Sharja in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

The gang made £10,000 profit per car and grabbed a total of £1.5m in profit. They were caught in August last year after a 14-month surveillance sting dubbed Operation Barton, which was led by Greater Manchester Police Vehicle Fraud Unit and involved three other forces.

At Manchester Crown Court Parvez, of Able Street, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handling stolen cars, alongside Mohammed Ilyas, 42, of Albert Road, Ilford, Essex; Majid Ghouse, 34, of Strone Road in Forest Gate, London; Mansha Khan, 34, of Slade Grove, Longsight, Manchester; and Mohammed Dita, 34, of Great Western Street in Moss Side, Manchester.

Sentencing has been adjourned until July 21 but the gang face heavy jail terms.

Greater Manchester Police said Operation Barton, which was run with the assistance of Kent Constabulary, Essex and Merseyside Police, revealed that the conspiracy took place for more than a year, from June 2002.

The group recruited burglars across the country to take high value vehicles in return for cash payments.

Parvez was captured in January 2003 after approaching a shipping company in Newton le Willows and requesting prices to ship cars and machinery to Dubai and Singapore.

Calling himself 'Riza Butt', Parvez arranged the export of nine cars, during which time the company discovered one of the cars he had delivered was stolen.

Merseyside Police were informed and Parvez was arrested the next time he visited the shipping company.

A further 54 cars exported from the same shipping company since October 2002 to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Japan were also linked to Parvez, who had struck up business using the fictitious name 'Phoenix Motor Company Ltd.'