File photo of luxury vehicles
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has recovered a total of 43 high-value luxury vehicles that were stolen from abroad and smuggled into Ghana between January and July 2025, as part of intensified efforts to combat transnational vehicle crime.
Addressing a press briefing in Accra on August 4, 2025, the Director-General of the CID, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, attributed the success to close cooperation with the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and international partners including Interpol, Digipol, and the FBI.
The recovered vehicles include Rolls-Royce, Audi, Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz models, which were traced to thefts in the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Canada, the USA, Germany, Italy, and France.
Out of the 43 vehicles, investigations have been concluded on 18, with the courts ordering their repatriation to their countries of origin.
COP Donkor revealed that eight have already been repatriated, while 10 are pending repatriation.
The remaining 25 cases are still in court.
“We share intelligence on vehicles stolen abroad and imported into the country, as well as transnational organised 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.
She stressed the importance of due diligence, noting that importers often fail to prove legitimate 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 sustain the fight against this growing threat, the CID said it has established a special task force to carry out intelligence-led operations. This task force has already impounded an additional six vehicles suspected to have been stolen; four Toyota Tundras, one Toyota RAV4, and one Range Rover, all traced to Canada.
COP Donkor explained that criminal syndicates use several tactics to smuggle cars out of foreign countries, including renting vehicles with fake identities, disabling tracking systems, or fraudulently purchasing vehicles on hire purchase terms and defaulting.
“Others also buy and import the luxurious vehicles as a way of laundering illicit profits, apart from the criminal acts like romance fraud and extortion. Sadly, some innocent citizens fall victim and purchase vehicles that have been stolen from abroad,” she lamented.
The CID Director-General therefore urged the public to exercise greater caution when buying imported vehicles.
“I want to take this opportunity to advise all citizens who want to purchase vehicles, particularly those imported from abroad, to go beyond requesting for the customs documents and demand from the importers some proof of purchase or ownership of the vehicle prior to its importation into the country,” she advised.
MA
