CROOKS from Estonia who flew to the UK for "day trip" jewellery raids have been jailed for a total of 65 years.
Mob bosses in the Baltic state recruited junkies and debt-ridden chancers to carry out robberies across Europe.
Using budget airlines, they flew into Britain, Germany, Monte Carlo, Sweden, Italy and Finland to launch armed raids that netted gems and watches worth millions of pounds.
Then they hopped back to Estonia's capital Tallinn.
The gang - finally smashed by British cops - carried out up to 150 robberies over a number of years. Five raiders are already serving a total of 55 years in jail. And now fellow mob member Algo Toomits, a 31-year-old drug addict, has been given ten years by Leeds Crown Court.
He escaped with designer watches worth £650,000 in two gem store robberies in Leeds and Blackpool.
CCTV of the Leeds raid showed a woman cowering in a corner as Toomits brandished a fake gun while two accomplices smashed cabinets with hammers. He was trapped when cops found his distinctive jacket and shoes at his Estonian home.
Det Insp Lloyd Batley said: "The ringleaders recruited foot soldiers by getting them in debt. When they could not repay they were given jobs."
Alastair Taylor
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