Ghana has been identified as a key destination for stolen vehicles in a major international car theft syndicate uncovered by US authorities, raising fresh concerns about the influx of stolen cars into the country.
A 15-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in a US District Court in the District of Columbia charged six individuals with their alleged roles in an operation that stole at least 20 vehicles from the Washington metropolitan area and Pennsylvania before shipping some to buyers in the United States and Ghana.
Investigators believe the network is connected to a much larger theft spree, with more than 100 vehicles stolen in Washington, D.C., alone and over 30 others in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Authorities described the indicted case as potentially just the tip of the iceberg.
The suspects allegedly targeted newer model vehicles, including Honda Civics, CRVs, and Acura TLXs and RDXs. They used high-tech methods such as On-Board Diagnostics II (OBD-II) devices to reprogram the cars to accept blank key fobs, bypassing factory security systems.
Stolen vehicles were moved to storage locations, including a parking garage in Southeast Washington, D.C., where licence plates were swapped and Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) tampered with. The suspects also disabled GPS and Bluetooth systems to avoid detection before transporting the cars for sale or export.
A search warrant was executed at an automobile storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, believed to be part of the supply chain. Some of the stolen cars were loaded into shipping containers in Baltimore for export to Ghana.
Those charged are Jacob Hernandez, 29, of Los Angeles; Dustin Wetzel, 23, of Woodbridge, Virginia; James Young, 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland; Khobe David, 24, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland; and Chance Clark, 25, of Waldorf, Maryland. A sixth suspect remains at large, with court documents sealing further details.
All six face conspiracy charges to possess, transport, and sell stolen motor vehicles. Five of the defendants are in custody.
The case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with support from the Prince George’s County Police Department.
US prosecutors have stressed that the indictment is only a formal accusation and that all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.