Ghana Police smash international car theft ring — Rolls-Royce, Benz, Porsche among 43 seized vehicles

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has escalated its fight against transnational vehicle crime, recovering 43 high-value luxury vehicles stolen from abroad and brought into Ghana between January and July 2025.

At a press briefing in Accra, the Director-General of the CID, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, disclosed that the recovery was a result of close collaboration between the CID, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, and international partners, including Interpol, Digipol, and the FBI.

“We share intelligence on vehicles stolen abroad and imported into the country, as well as transnational organized criminal groups involved in the stolen motor vehicle trade and related crimes like money laundering, insurance fraud, identity theft, Visa card fraud, among other transnational crimes,” she said.

The recovered vehicles, including Rolls-Royce, Audi, Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz models, were stolen from countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Canada, the USA, Germany, Italy, and France.

According to COP Donkor, investigations into the 43 vehicles have been concluded, with the courts ordering 18 of them to be repatriated to their countries of origin. “Eight have already been repatriated, while 10 are pending repatriation; cases on the remaining 25 are still pending in court,” she revealed.

She stressed that the CID conducts thorough investigations for every impounded vehicle, giving importers the opportunity to prove ownership. “It is sad to note that in almost all the cases mentioned above, those who clear the vehicles in Ghana are unable to provide proof of ownership or purchase of the vehicles from the country of origin prior to their importation into Ghana.

Let me indicate here that payment of customs duties in Ghana does not mean that the vehicle was legitimately acquired from the country of origin,” she cautioned.

To strengthen the clampdown, the CID has established a special task force to conduct intelligence-led operations to impound suspected stolen vehicles. The task force has already seized six more vehicles – four Toyota Tundras, one Toyota RAV4, and one Range Rover – all stolen from Canada.

She explained that intelligence gathered revealed that criminals often use fake identities to rent vehicles, which they then ship abroad before defaulting on rental payments. Others disable tracking systems before smuggling vehicles into Ghana, while some use fraudulent credit card details to purchase cars on hire purchase before illegally exporting them.

“Others also buy and import luxurious vehicles as a way of laundering illicit profits, apart from criminal acts like romance fraud and extortion. Sadly, some innocent citizens fall victim and purchase vehicles that have been stolen from abroad,” COP Donkor lamented.

She advised the public to be vigilant when purchasing vehicles imported from abroad.

“I want to take this opportunity to advise all citizens who want to purchase vehicles, particularly those imported from abroad, to go beyond requesting customs documents and demand from the importers some proof of purchase or ownership of the vehicle prior to its importation into the country,” she urged.