Following a yearlong investigation, police arrested more than a dozen alleged members of a car theft ring that specialized in luxury and construction vehicles.

Authorities say the ring operated in three states and the Dominican Republic, but its home base was in the Bronx. According to police, the thieves are responsible for stealing some 50 vehicles from construction sites, streets, car dealerships and parking garages throughout New York City, 14 of them in the Bronx.

"All of the individuals involved had specific rules whether it was stealing vehicles, forging the paperwork necessary to make the vehicles saleable, or engaging in the trafficking of the vehicles to other states and beyond,? says Robin Baker, executive deputy attorney general for criminal justice.

Investigators believe the criminal group has stolen a total of more than 100 cars and construction equipment worth $2.5 million. All the ?hot? vehicles were stored in the Bronx, police say, and then sold on the black market in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and even the Dominican Republic.

The suspects are facing multiple charges, including enterprise corruption, forgery and criminal possession of stolen property. Enterprise corruption alone carries a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison.