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WINSTON-SALEM (MCT) — Sixteen men have learned the price of being convicted of illegal street racing: They lost their cars.

Judge Chester Davis of Forsyth District Court heard the cases all day Wednesday in a courtroom on the fourth floor. The last case was heard about 7:30 p.m.

He heard 19 cases in all, with 16 of the men convicted of prearranged racing. As result of those convictions, the men lost their driver's licenses for up to three years, and their cars will be auctioned off by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, with the proceeds going to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Another three men were convicted of spontaneous racing, a lesser charge. Those men will get their cars back but will lose their driver's licenses for a year, Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Friel said.

Another 19 people in Guilford County have already been convicted of illegal car racing, he said. In Forsyth County, another four cases are pending, Friel said.

The charges stemmed from the Highway Patrol's undercover investigation last fall into racing on Main Street in High Point and on U.S. 311 into Forsyth County. State troopers called the investigation Operation Drift.

Lt. Keith Stone of the highway patrol said that troopers seized 34 vehicles in an operation that was supposed to last three months. The highway patrol ended the undercover investigation early.

''That group of racers was completely out of control," Stone said. "They had no regard for safety or the motor-vehicle code."

Undercover officers from the highway patrol and the N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement Division infiltrated a group of racers who gathered in High Point on Friday and Saturday nights to race their cars.

The officers went to drag strips and parties with the racers, and also watched them race.

The officers made video recordings of the races and audio conversations with the racers.

To arrange the races, the racers often would send text messages on their cell phones.

Friel said that in one race, speeds reached 150 mph.

''That's just a recipe for disaster," he said. "That's how people get killed."

The men ranged in age from 17 to 45, Friel said. Most of the men convicted were young, he said.

''This is an extremely dangerous venture these young people are engaging in," he said.

''It is a pretty risky venture, and that's one of the reasons why these young people seek it out. They don't realize the consequences of what they're undertaking."

Stone said he has seen an increase in illegal car racing in the area.

He said that the highway patrol wants to stop these races so that no one is hurt or killed.

That's why the penalty is severe, particularly for prearranged racing, Stone said.

Those who are convicted could get their driver's license back in 18 months but not before that, he said.

''It's the most severe punishment in the (motor vehicle code in North Carolina)," Stone said.

Friel said that District Attorney Tom Keith believes that the most effective way to deal with illegal car racing is to do away the drivers' most precious thing -- their cars.

''That's the only way that seems to be effective in stopping street racing," he said.