FBI Busts Washington D.C-Based International Car Theft Ring Linked to Ghana
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation has busted an international car-theft syndicate linked to Ghana after a one-year-long investigation
- Authorities said the group allegedly stole vehicles across Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania and transported some to Ghana for sale
- Investigators are still pursuing one fugitive suspect as part of a wider probe into more than 130 vehicle thefts connected to the ring
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has busted an international car-theft syndicate linked to Ghana.
A statement issued by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, disclosed that six people were apprehended by the FBI following a one-year-long investigation.
Source: Facebook
According to the statement, the suspects are believed to be members of the car-theft syndicate, primarily operating in Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania.
"A 15-count indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia and charges six individuals in connection with their roles in a conspiracy that allegedly stole at least 20 cars in the Washington metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, transported the vehicles across state lines, and sold the vehicles to buyers in the United States and the African nation of Ghana," the statement read.
"Law enforcement is continuing to investigate the defendants involved in this ring in relation to the theft of more than 100 vehicles in the District of Columbia and more than 30 vehicles in Prince George’s County, Maryland," it indicated.
It further explained that officers of the FBI also executed a search warrant on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at an automobile storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, which is suspected to be linked to the auto-theft ring.
Read the Facebook post below:
Modus operandi of the car-theft ring
The suspects are alleged to have stolen cars and sold them either in the US or in Ghana.
They purportedly carried out vehicle thefts using electronic devices that enabled them to reprogram cars to accept previously blank key fobs.
Below are the names of the suspects charged in the indictment:
- 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
The US Attorney's Office statement indicated that one additional defendant remains at large and is considered a fugitive. However, the indictment against that defendant remains sealed.
"According to the allegations in the indictment, members of the conspiracy caused the vehicles, primarily recently manufactured Honda Civics and CR-Vs and Acura TLXs and RDXs, to be stolen and then transported them to storage locations that included a parking garage in Southeast Washington, DC," the statement stated.
"At the garage, co-conspirators allegedly disguised the appearances of the stolen cars by swapping licence plates and obscuring Vehicle Identification Numbers. Before transporting the vehicles, the defendants disabled the stolen vehicles’ GPS and Bluetooth capabilities to inhibit detection," it added.
All six of the indicted individuals have been charged with conspiracy to possess, sell, and transport stolen motor vehicles.
This case, according to the statement, is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Criminal Investigations Unit, and the FBI Washington Field Office, with valuable assistance from the Prince George’s County Police Department.
"Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob Green and Michael Lee and Trial Attorney Haley Pennington are prosecuting the matter."
"An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty."
Source: Facebook
FBI arrest Ghanaian in $100m romance scam
In a related development, YEN.com.gh reported that Derrick Van Yeboah, a 40-year-old Ghanaian businessman, had pleaded guilty in the US to his role in a large-scale online fraud.
Court documents showed that many victims were deceived into sending money under the belief they were in genuine online relationships.
Van Yeboah is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Arun Subramanian on June 3, 2026.
Source: YEN.com.gh
