Na wa
http://www.1976ad.com/2012/05/17/car-theft-ring-busted-in-new-york-points-to-nigeria-as-destination-of-stolen-luxury-suvs/ (Link has pics if you care to see them)

Calling all Lagos and Abuja Big Boys and Girls: Those luxury SUV’s you’re driving could be stolen!

Following the bust of a luxury SUV car theft ring and the arrest of 14 individuals; the New York City Police Chief has reported that due to ‘customer demand’ from Africa, two ‘international brokers’ from New Jersey and Maryland, hired car thieves in New York to steal high end Lexuses, Acuras and Toyotas which were then loaded into cargo containers and shipped to Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.

Police say 108 cars were allegedly stolen by the car theft ring over the last year.



Their mode of operation would be to stalk whoever owned the targeted vehicle, looking for the best opportunity to steal the car. Reportedly, there was one woman who took her child to school to come out to only find that her car had been stolen.

According to the indictment, the operation’s international broker would place an order with the local broker, who would relay the order to the ‘steal crew’ boss, specifying what was to be stolen by model, year, color and accessory package.

Members of the steal crew would then “fill the order” by getting the VIN number of a specific car of a specified version on the streets of New York City.

Once the VIN is obtained, their inside man at Toyota would use it to get the security codes and cut a new set of keys. Keys which would then be sent to the ‘steal man’.

Once inside the targeted car, the ‘steal man’ would use a portable computer to program the key to sync to the vehicle’s unique code, enabling him to cleanly steal the vehicle without causing any damage, or setting off any alarms. Forged document specialists created the paperwork used to disguise the stolen vehicles, including new VIN plates and titles for each stolen car.

To further facilitate the movement of the containers containing the stolen vehicles, the ring provided false VINs to shipping companies, thereby disguising the containers’ true contents.







The thieves were reportedly paid between $10,000 – $15,000 in cash while the broker then sold the cars for more than triple that amount.

The charges on the indictment range from Grand Larceny to Enterprise corruption and if found guilty of the latter, they could face up to 25 years in jail.