The rise in international organized crime gangs smuggling stolen vehicles from the Motor City into Middle Eastern countries has alarmed law enforcement officials seeking to crack down on the theft, as experts say criminals are using teenagers to do their dirty work.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in September that eight men were indicted in federal court on suspicion of engaging in auto theft and international smuggling in Detroit, Michigan. Press release.
According to the 12-count indictment, the eight suspects conspired to coordinate the delivery of stolen vehicles at one of four commercial or industrial parcels in metro Detroit. Once the vehicles were delivered, prosecutors said the men would load at least two of the stolen vehicles into containers and send them by freight or rail to nearby port cities.
Once the containers arrive at various port cities, the containers carrying the cars will allegedly be shipped overseas.
U.S. trucking industry urges lawmakers to take action against surge in online cargo theft
A truck crosses the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada on March 4, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.
“A lot of cars are being shipped to the Middle East,” said Dearborn Sgt. Daniel Bartok told Fox 2 that includes locations such as Iraq and Dubai.
Read it on the Fox News app
The suspects have been identified as Haydar Al Haydari, 41, of Garden City; Karar Alnakash, 43, of Detroit; Abbas Osman, 42, of Dearborn Heights; Mohammed Al Hilo, 36, of Detroit; Moustapha Al Fetrawi, 46, of Dearborn Heights; Terrill Davis, 33, of Detroit; and David Roshinsky Williams, 32 , of Harper Woods, and Mohammed Al Abboodi, 35, of Detroit, according to federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors said all eight men were charged with one count of conspiracy to transport a stolen vehicle and one or more counts of transporting a stolen vehicle.
Ice, Cbp seize 400 guns hidden in fake trailer walls at southern border crossing
Port of Detroit Port Authority at the General Motors Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
“Our efforts have resulted in the recovery of more than 350 stolen vehicles, and there is a victim behind every stolen vehicle,” ICE HSI Detroit Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Stentz said in a statement. “Our Homeland Security Investigations agents and law enforcement partners will continue to do the necessary work to combat these operations that harm ordinary Americans.”
The recent indictments are just the latest in a surge in vehicle thefts in Michigan in recent years.
In 2023, 28,408 motor vehicle thefts were reported in the state, according to Michigan Department of Justice. There was a 4.1% increase in thefts compared to the previous year and a 48.4% increase compared to the past five years of data.
Michigan’s attorney general did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Criminal networks exploit our interstates to make human trafficking victims disappear: ‘A real plague’
Trucks carrying goods between Canada and the United States cross the Ambassador Bridge on February 3, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.
“I think any metropolitan area has some car theft problem,” retired Michigan State Police Sergeant Kyle McPhee, an expert in stolen vehicle identification, told Fox News Digital. “Detroit happens to be a port city. You can put something in a container and it gets to the port pretty quickly.”
McPhee said organized crime gangs often steal vehicles from manufacturers’ parking lots or simply parked on the street, and some criminals recruit teenagers because legal penalties for minors are lighter.
“They would pay the teenagers a small fee to get out and then take the vehicles back to wherever they wanted to cool off,” McPhee said. “They would remove all the tracking devices and possibly cut the vehicle apart so they could put it in a container and call it ‘auto parts.’ Then when it gets to its destination, they might reassemble it.”
Ice says it took down group linked to violent Texas home invasions; video shows victims chased, attacked
Photo taken on October 14, 2024, at the Marathon Refinery in Detroit, Michigan.
Once a container arrives at a port, criminals often falsify manifest logs to fool officials into understanding its contents, McPhee said.
“They would say ‘household goods,’ and there might be five cars and two mattresses in there,” McPhee added.
McPhee said the process makes it nearly impossible for authorities to verify the contents of the millions of containers that pass through every port every year because organized crime groups in the United States often collude with international criminals.
Sophisticated gang of porch pirates hacked cargo tracking information, stole hundreds of cellphones, prosecutors say
“They have backscatter machines and X-rays to inspect containers, but with a million containers in some of these ports it’s difficult,” McPhee said. “It’s a difficult task. You also have to be careful about what goes into the country, and now we have to see what goes out.”
An increase in vehicle thefts across Michigan prompted state officials to create the Automobile Fraud Task Force (AFTF) earlier this year.
According to the Michigan Attorney General, the unit combats auto insurance fraud and large-scale auto theft crimes by working with various law enforcement agencies in the metro Detroit area.
“With auto thefts on the rise in our communities, expanding the Auto Fraud Task Force is an important step in strengthening our fight against vehicle theft and insurance fraud, crimes that impact too many Michigan residents each year,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “With this new structure, we are increasing our efforts to disrupt these sophisticated, organized auto criminal enterprises across the state.”
Click here to download the Fox News app
As authorities race to track down stolen vehicles before they can be loaded into containers and investigate how criminal gangs in the U.S. work with international criminal organizations, McPhee insists there is one key factor driving the rise in vehicle thefts in Michigan.
“A key connection is that someone is getting paid,” McPhee told Fox News Digital. “There’s money to be made. So if you have a local organized gang, they can easily link up with another gang internationally. We have the internet, it’s not difficult.”
Original source of the article: Crime boss turns Motor City into car theft supermarket for Middle Eastern buyers: ‘Someone got paid’