West Africa-Linked Auto Theft Gang Busted In New Jersey

A gang of car thieves — attempting to copy the Nicolas Cage film “Gone in 60 Seconds” — burglarized homes and stole luxury vehicles across the New York–New Jersey area, cramming the stolen cars into shipping containers bound for third-world West African countries.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin charged 11 individuals with stealing 43 luxury vehicles, including Land Rovers, Mercedes-Benzes, and BMWs, valued at $3.65 million.

West African gang tied to stealing more than 40 cars in New Jersey.pic.twitter.com/3cXsn2qkt2

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“While car thefts in New Jersey have decreased significantly over the past year and have continued to decrease in 2025, we are committed to reducing them further. This case is about more than just the theft of vehicles, it is about stealing people’s sense of security and safety,” said Attorney General Platkin.

Division of Criminal Justice Director Theresa Hilton called the theft “a complex criminal enterprise that specifically targeted and stole high-end vehicles to be shipped to overseas buyers. Working together, we were able to charge these defendants with serious crimes carrying lengthy prison sentencing exposure.”

“This case reflects how car theft today is a global enterprise,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark said, adding, ”Millions of dollars worth of stolen vehicles—including a $475,000 Rolls Royce—were taken to a Bronx parking garage that defendants used as a showroom. The vehicles wound up in shipping containers in Elizabeth and then in West Africa. My Office, specifically, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Lupo, a Deputy Chief in the Trial Division, worked with NYPD Auto Crime and NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin to identify and dismantle this group. We will not tolerate auto crime in the Bronx.”

“Theft crews were paid for the stolen vehicles with cash from money wired from West Africa to the mid-level and high-level fences,” Attorney General Platkin said, noting that all defendants are charged with first-degree racketeering. 

Attorney General Platkin charged the following defendants: 

Jahquil Louis, 19, and Daniel Deleon, 18, both of Newark; Jomar Ocasio, 19, of Belleville, Quadir Williams, 21, of Riverdale, Mamadou Camara, 29, Moussa Doumbia, 22, Arona Amadou, 35, Mouslim Ouedraogo, 32, Moubarak Djibril, 23, all of Bronx, New York; Issa Yara, 38, of Manhattan, and an 18-year-old from Scranton Pennsylvania who was a juvenile at the time of their arrest.

Organized criminal groups across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have targeted luxury cars for years, using major ports on the East Coast to ship these vehicles to West Africa.

In addition to these groups targeting cars, under the Biden-Harris regime, illegal alien criminal gangs targeted wealthy suburban neighborhoods across the country.

The Trump administration has reestablished a big focus on law and order nationwide by deporting criminal illegal aliens, while Democratic lawmakers and left-leaning judges have sought to block these deportations at every turn.