FBI Busts Washington D.C-Based International Car Theft Ring Linked to Ghana

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.

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.

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 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

Khoebe David, 24, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland

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.

"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."