Six individuals have been indicted in the United States over an international car theft ring that allegedly shipped stolen vehicles to Ghana. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia unsealed a 15-count indictment on Wednesday against Jacob Hernandez, 29, Dustin Wetzel, 23, James Young, 23, Khobe David, 24, Chance Clark, 25, and one other suspect currently at large. Prosecutors say the group stole at least 20 cars in the Washington metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, then transported them across state lines for sale to buyers in the United States and Ghana. The vehicles, primarily newer models of Honda Civics, CRVs, Acura TLXs, and RDXs, were stripped of identifying features including license plates and Vehicle Identification Numbers, with GPS and Bluetooth systems disabled. Law enforcement used technological evidence to trace how the suspects reprogrammed blank key fobs to bypass security systems. A search warrant was executed Tuesday at a storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, believed to be linked to the operation. Authorities are investigating the group's possible involvement in the theft of more than 100 vehicles in D.C. and over 30 in Prince George's County, Maryland. The Metropolitan Police Department, FBI Washington Field Office, and U.S. Attorney's Office's Criminal Investigations Unit led the probe.
The indictment names Ghana as a destination for stolen luxury cars while no Ghanaian nationals are among the accused, raising questions about how the overseas network operated. The vehicles were reprogrammed using blank key fobs and routed through U.S. storage facilities before shipment. Buyers in Ghana received high-end cars with wiped tracking systems and altered identities. This case exposes a transnational supply chain moving stolen American vehicles to West Africa without implicating a single Ghanaian in the arrests.
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