"Pictured: Police handout picture of some of the luxury cars sold by the two defendants<br /> Re: Two men who unknowingly sold over £100,000 worth of stolen cars to the police during a six month sting operation called Operation Red Anvil have been jailed.<br /> Dean Cronin, 41, and Daniel Gordon, 28, both from Cardiff, were operating at the top of a criminal network and were behind a campaign which saw luxury cars being stolen from driveways across south Wales.<br /> Houses were being burgled for the car keys inside, and vehicles were literally being driven off while their owners were sleeping upstairs.<br /> But little did they know, the buyers on seven occasions were police officers, who were building a file of damning evidence against the pair.<br /> Over the course of six months, between June and November, 2016, Cronin and Gordon sold vehicles worth £110,000 to officers for just under £5,400, which included a 14 plate Mercedes GLA, worth £31,000, for just £1,200.<br /> Cars being stolen were unknowingly sold to police officers working as part of a dedicated taskforce. The vehicles had been stolen from places such as Penarth, Cathays, Llanishen and Caerphilly. Officers were even offered two vehicles – a Nissan Juke and an Audi A3 - before the crime had been reported to the police, having been stolen from the same driveway in Penarth.<br /> The police operation came to a head when Dean Cronin and Daniel Gordon were arrested on Tuesday, 3rd January, 2017, during a pre-planned operation.<br /> They pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to handle stolen goods at Cardiff Magistrates Court on 4th January, 2017. Dean Cronin was sentenced to 3 ½ years and Daniel Gordon sentenced to 20 months at Cardiff Crown Court on 24th February, 2017.<br /> Detective Inspector Dean Taylor, said: ""Dean Cronin and Daniel Gordon headed up an organised crime group which was behind a relentless campaign of crimes across the region. They created the market for stolen vehicles and in doing so they inflicted misery and the trauma of b"
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