U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have seized hundreds of stolen luxury vehicles worth over $17 million, including Lamborghinis and Aston Martins, that criminals were trying to export to foreign countries.
The Baltimore Field Office intercepted 343 stolen vehicles in the fiscal year 2022-2023. They were valued at an estimated $17.7 million, according to newly released data by CBP, a 44% increase over the previous year's recoveries.
The most expensive recovered stolen vehicles included a 2022 Lamborghini Urus worth over $250,000, a 2021 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG valued at $230,500, and a 2021 Aston Martin DBX worth an estimated $175,300.
Roughly 90% of the stolen luxury supercars recovered by CBP officers in the Baltimore Field Office were en route to West Africa.
Nationally, CBP recovered 1,316 stolen vehicles during the fiscal year, an increase of about 6.5%, before they could be exported from the United States.
During vehicle examinations, law enforcement officials inspect export documents and compare a vehicle's identification number (VIN) against stolen vehicle reports.
Rigorous import and export examinations remain a core component of enforcing border security as officers search for illicit narcotics, unlicensed firearms, counterfeit goods and other commodities that violate U.S. export laws.
CBP officers collaborated with special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) along with state and local law enforcement to investigate stolen vehicles and halt the transportation of luxury sports cars.
"The international trade in stolen vehicles is just one of many revenue streams for transnational criminal organizations, so Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to strike back by recovering these vehicles and reuniting them with their lawful owners," said Matthew Davies, acting director of CBP's Baltimore Field Office. "Auto theft remains a rising concern in the United States. CBP remains committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to hold these exporters accountable."
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced the sentencing of a man for illegally shipping stolen vehicles to West Africa in June.
Rodley Balthazar, 30, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for conspiracy to commit transportation of stolen motor vehicles and receipt and possession of stolen motor vehicles. According to his plea deal, between September 2019 and June 2022, Balthazar worked with others to fraudulently rent vehicles from car rental companies around the United States. Balthazar, a Haitian citizen residing in Maryland, rented the vehicles using false identifications and credit cards.
The vehicles would then be transported to Maryland, loaded into large cargo shipping containers, and taken to the Port of Baltimore.
By fraudulently using false declaration forms and other paperwork to conceal the containers' contents, the containers with rental vehicles inside would be exported to West Africa via cargo ship, where the vehicles could be sold.
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Billal Rahman is a Live News reporter based in London, U.K. He specializes in foreign affairs and U.S. politics. He ... Read more
