Zihua Zhang, 37, of Irvine was pulled over in a stolen Dodge Durango SRT, valued at $88,000, Irvine police spokesman Kyle Oldoerp said. The operation Zhang is believed to be involved in stole or bought stolen cars, replaced the vehicle identification numbers with fakes, and then sold the autos, Oldoerp said.

Other items including fraudulent license plates, checks, and three unregistered firearms were recovered at Zihua Zhang's home in Irvine, according to police.

A stolen purple McLaren was found during an investigation into an auto theft operation last week in Irvine.