Cops Recover $6M in Luxury Cars Stolen by Home Invaders Before Shipping to Africa

A criminal ring operating in the Tri-State area has been charged with stealing dozens of luxury vehicles that were later shipped overseas, law enforcement announced this week. The thieves targeted premium vehicles at homes in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, where they often broke into homes to steal the key fobs that allowed them to pilfer the cars without damaging them, authorities say.

The thieves operated multiple impromptu “showrooms” in parking garages in the Longwood neighborhood of The Bronx, where customers would come to examine the stolen vehicles before paying cash to have them shipped to customers in Gambia and Ghana, CBS News New York reports.

“These are not low-level crimes; they are part of a multimillion-dollar black market that fuels violence and instability,” New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

As part of the bust, authorities recovered 72 of the stolen vehicles, including a 2025 Rolls-Royce Cullinan that were awaiting shipment. According to TAPinto Edison, the criminals were responsible for at least 42 thefts in New Jersey alone, oftentimes targeting late-model BMW crossovers and SUVs, including several 2023 and 2024 X5s and X7s.

“This was a complex criminal enterprise that specifically targeted and stole high-end vehicles to be shipped to overseas buyers,” said Director Theresa L. Hilton of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. “Working together, we were able to charge these defendants with serious crimes carrying lengthy prison sentencing exposure.”

The recovered vehicles were found in shipping containers at ports in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Staten Island, New York, where they were queued up to be shipped to West Africa.

Eleven members of the organization were charged in New Jersey this week (including one minor); New York State brought charges against 8. All of them were charged with racketeering, which conveys a sentence of 10-20 years in state prison, along with fines of up to $500,000.

Stolen cars ending up in Africa and other parts of the world is nothing new. Last year, CBC released a documentary showing that cars that had recently landed on Ghana’s shores still contained the personal information of their rightful owners. The video below shows how the investigative reporters even contacted them after finding their phone numbers in the glovebox compartments. Needless to say, they were very shocked to hear their cars had already made the trip over the Atlantic, and there was nothing they could do to get them back.

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