The Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, COP Lydia Donkor, has given details of how vehicles stolen in Western countries are imported into Ghana.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, August 4, 2025, COP Donkor said that a special task force set up by the CID, which has impounded six vehicles from Canada, discovered the modus operandi of the car smuggling syndicates.
She stated that one of the methods used by the criminal gangs is the use of fake identities to rent cars, which are eventually smuggled into Ghana.
“While the rental agreement is in force, they clandestinely ship the vehicles out of the country. As soon as they are sure the vehicles have been cleared, they stop paying the rental charges and cut all communication with the company.
“By the time the rental company realises that the contract has been abrogated, the vehicle would already have been shipped out of the country of origin,” she said.
She also disclosed that some of the vehicles that have been impounded were actually stolen.
“Some of the vehicles are actually stolen from the premises of the owners. The tracking systems are disabled, and they are shipped into the country,” she said.
“In some of the cases, fake credit cards or stolen credit card details are used to buy the vehicles on hire purchase. While the agreement is in force, the vehicles are shipped out of the country of origin. Once the vehicle is out and sold to an innocent buyer, the payments on the purchase are stopped. That is when the owners realise the theft and report same to the authorities,” she added.
She also said that some of the cars are bought and imported into Ghana to launder illicit profits acquired from criminal acts like romance fraud and sextortion.
COP Donkor urged Ghanaians to be circumspect when buying imported used vehicles and to demand purchase documents from the countries they were imported from.
“Some innocent citizens fall victim and purchase vehicles that have been stolen 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 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 cautioned.
BAI/VPO
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