Three Greeks and a Japanese man were charged with involvement in a gang that — for at least five years — stole high-powered motorcycles in Japan and then sold them on the second-hand market in Greece, police said yesterday.

The used motorcycles were sold at a substantial profit through a company based in Trikala, central Greece, which imported the stolen bikes through customs with forged documents, officers said.

Some 50 motorcycles, all stolen in Tokyo, were confiscated from a warehouse following a tip-off from Interpol. It was not clear how many bikes the gang had managed to sell in the time it had been active, police said. The Greeks, aged between 37 and 50, and the 54-year-old Tokyo-based Japanese national, none of whom were named, were charged with theft and trading in stolen goods.