CBP’s Baltimore Field Office Announces Fiscal Year 2023 Recoveries of Stolen Vehicle Being Exported from the U.S.

BALTIMORE – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in the Baltimore Field Office intercepted 343 stolen vehicles during fiscal year 2023 (Oct.1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023), a 44% increase over the previous year’s recoveries. The recovered vehicles were valued at about $17.7 million.

About 90%, or 310, of the stolen vehicles recovered by CBP officers in the Baltimore Field Office were destined to West Africa.

Nationally, CBP recovered 1,316 stolen vehicles during fiscal year 2023, an increase of about 6.5%, before they could be exported from the United States.

Rigorous import and export examinations remain a critical component to CBP’s border security mission. CBP officers search for illicit narcotics, unlicensed firearms, counterfeit consumer goods, and other commodities that violate U.S. export laws. During vehicle examinations, CBP officers inspect export documentation and compare a vehicle’s identification number (VIN) against stolen vehicle reports.

During many of the seizures, CBP officers partnered with special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who, along with their state and local law enforcement partners on HSI’s Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) carried out investigations into the stolen vehicles. These investigations are bearing convictions.

On June 6, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced the sentencing of two Laurel, Maryland men for illegally shipping stolen vehicles to West Africa.

“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 Baltimore Field Office covers an area from Trenton, N.J., to the Virginia – North Carolina state line, and includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Vehicles and other conveyances are exported through busy seaports in the Delaware Valley region, Baltimore, and Norfolk, Va.

The following data points offer insight into the Baltimore Field Office’s recovered stolen vehicles during 2023.

• The Baltimore Field Office ranked 2nd nationally with 343 stolen vehicle recoveries. These vehicles were valued at $17,700,415.
  • The Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News recovered 180 stolen vehicles during fiscal year 2023, an increase of about 158% from the previous year (70 vehicles). Norfolk ranked #2 nationally among CBP Ports of Entries. The vehicles were valued at $10,163,356.
  • The Area Port of Baltimore ranked #3 nationally with 141 stolen vehicle recoveries, down from 149 vehicles the previous year. The vehicles were valued at $7,369,142.
  • The Area Port of Philadelphia and the Port of Wilmington, Del., collectively recovered 22 stolen vehicles, up from 20 vehicles the previous year. The vehicles were valued at $168,917.
• The Baltimore Field Office recovered an average of 216 stolen vehicles for each of the previous five years (1,080 total). In addition to 343 stolen vehicle recoveries in FY2023, CBP officers recovered 239 vehicles in FY2022, 95 vehicles in FY2021, 157 vehicles in FY2020, and 246 vehicles in FY2019.
• 90%, or 310 stolen vehicles, were destined to West Africa nations of Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
• 77%, or 265 stolen vehicles, were destined to only five of these West Africa nations – Ghana (69 vehicles), Togo (59), Liberia (47), Nigeria (45), and Sierra Leone (45).
• 76%, or 262 stolen vehicles, were from model years 2019 through 2023; nearly half (164 vehicles) were from just the 2021 and 2022 model years.
• The vehicles included 104 unique models.
• The vehicles were from model year 1991, and from 2004 through 2024. Oddly, CBP did not encounter any vehicles from the 2006 model year.
• Subcompact to full-sized sport utility vehicles remain the most popular auto theft targets; 251 stolen vehicles, about 73%, were SUVs.
• Land Rover Range Rover (35 vehicles) takes the top spot again this year, followed by Toyota Highlander (18 vehicles), BMW X5 (17 vehicles), Toyota 4-Runner (13 vehicles), and a fifth-place tie between BMW X7 and Infinity QX80 (12 vehicles each).
• The most expensive recovered stolen vehicles were:

  • 

    2022 Lamborghini Urus valued at $250,377 (Norfolk to Togo)
  • 2021 Mercedes Benz G63 AMG valued at $230,500 (Baltimore to Togo)
  • 2022 Mercedes Benz G63 AMG valued at $225,900 (Baltimore to Togo)
  • 2021 Mercedes Benz G63 AMG valued at $225,900 (Baltimore to Benin)
  • 2021 Aston Martin DBX valued at $175,300, (Norfolk to Togo)
• The oldest vehicle was a 1991 Toyota pickup, valued at $2,150, being shipped from Wilmington to Honduras.
• Recoveries included only one electric vehicle, a 2022 Hyundai IONIQ5, valued at $22,500, being shipped from Baltimore to the Congo.
• CBP officers recovered four stolen motorcycles, and a farm truck – a 2014 John Deere S680 Combine. The combine was being shipped from Baltimore to Argentina and was valued at $147,590.

CBP's border security mission is led at our nation’s Ports of Entry by CBP officers and agriculture specialists from the Office of Field Operations. CBP screens international travelers and cargo and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality.

See what CBP accomplished during "A Typical Day" in 2023. Learn more at www.CBP.gov.

Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos, and CBP’s Office of Field Operations on Instagram at @cbpfieldops.