An anonymous tip-off has led to a huge haul of stolen cars, one of the largest seizures recorded in recent Victorian history.
Police uncovered 31 stolen cars on an overgrown property in Melbourne's outer south-east on Thursday.
![Police found 31 stolen cars at a property in Pearcedale.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170525075121im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/a/g/m/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwai2j.png/1495438747124.jpg)
The cars – some stolen a decade ago – were found dotted around a four-hectare property in Pearcedale.
Casey CIU Detective Sergeant Garry Kear said that when police executed a warrant, they found dozens of cars strewn among the scrub, alongside several tow-trucks which police believe were used to transport the vehicles.
Little attempt had been made to hide the stolen cars, and number plates and Vehicle Identification Numbers largely remained on the cars.
The owner of the property will be interviewed on Tuesday. He has co-operated with the investigation.
It has taken police several days to sort through the cars, transport them from the property, and find their owners.
Many of the cars had little value other than for scrap, given they had been kept outside, but some were worth more than $20,000. One had been reported stolen earlier this year, and two others were stolen last year, but the majority were stolen in 2015 or earlier.
Sergeant Kear said that police had contacted every owner, and told many of them that while their car had been recovered, it would probably have to be sold for scrap, given its condition.
But several owners, including some who had their cars taken eight years ago, said they would try and get them running again. Many owners also told police the cars had not been insured.
"Most of them are run down, pulled apart, or have to be sold for scrap," Sergeant Kear said.
"Certainly there were no high-end cars in there, and all of them had been exposed to the elements."
Victoria is in the midst of a plague of car thefts, with more than 18,000 stolen last year. Many of those were suspected of being taken to scrap metal dealers.