Agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Baltimore Field Office recently recovered cars stolen from the District’s Southeast area that were going to be sent to West Africa.
Video footage caught the back-to-back thefts of two Jeeps from South Carolina Avenue SE in January, according to the District’s WUSA-TV.
Victim Nick Cioffi, the owner of one of the stolen Jeeps, told the station that he received a call from the Metropolitan Police Department recently explaining that his car was found.
“Customs agents had found the car, and they found our neighbor’s Jeep also, and a Corvette of all things inside a shipping container in the port of Baltimore that was headed to West Africa,” Mr. Cioffi told WUSA.
The District falls within the Baltimore office’s jurisdiction. The various area ports where the office’s agents work rank high nationwide in vehicle recoveries.
In 2024, the most recent year that Customs and Border Protection has disclosed data, the Baltimore Field Office recovered 250 vehicles worth more than $9.6 million, ranking second among all the agency’s field offices.
Virginia’s Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News was second among U.S. ports with 126 vehicles recovered worth more than $6.4 million, followed by Baltimore, which saw 94 stolen vehicles recovered worth over $2.6 million.
Customs and Border Protection said Baltimore Field Office agents recovered the remaining 30 vehicles worth over $540,000 at the Port of Philadelphia and in Wilmington, Delaware.
West Africa is a popular destination for stolen cars. From 2019 through 2023, over 90% of all vehicles recovered by the Baltimore Field Office were due to be shipped to the region.
There were 151 vehicles recovered, 60% of the total, headed to one of 11 West African countries. An additional 65, 26% of the total, were meant for Iraq or the United Arab Emirates.
Nigeria, Ghana and Togo were due to receive the most stolen vehicles from Baltimore Field Office ports before their recovery, at 70, 28 and 21 vehicles, respectively, Customs and Border Protection said.
No arrests have been announced in the theft of Mr. Cioffi’s car, according to WUSA.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.