Midwest
Crime lords turn Motor City into car-theft supermarket for Middle East buyers: ‘Somebody’s getting paid’
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An uptick in international organized crime groups smuggling stolen vehicles from the Motor City to countries in the Middle East is alarming law enforcement officials looking to crack down on the thefts, as experts say criminals are leveraging juveniles to do their dirty work.
In September, eight men were indicted in federal court for allegedly operating a car theft and international smuggling operation in Detroit, Michigan, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a news release.
According to the 12-count indictment, the eight suspects conspired among themselves and others to coordinate the deliveries of stolen vehicles at one of four commercial or industrial lots throughout the Detroit metropolitan area. Once the vehicles were delivered, prosecutors said the men would pack at least two of the stolen vehicles into shipping containers and send them to nearby port cities by freight or rail.
Once the containers arrived at the various port cities, the containers transporting the cars would allegedly be shipped overseas.
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Trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Canada, on March 4, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
“A lot of the cars were shipped to the Middle East,” Dearborn Police Cpl. Daniel Bartok told FOX 2, including locations like Iraq and Dubai.
The suspects have been identified as Haydar Al Haydari, 41, of Garden City; Karar Alnakash, 43, of Detroit; Abbas Al Othman, 42; of Dearborn Heights; Mohammed Al Hilo, 36, of Detroit; Moustapha Al Fetlawi, 46, of Dearborn Heights; Terrill Davis, 33, of Detroit; David Roshinsky Williams, 32, of Harper Woods; and Mohammed Al Abboodi, 35, of Detroit, according to federal prosecutors.
All eight men are charged with one count of conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles and one or more counts of transportation of a stolen vehicle, prosecutors said.
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The Port Detroit Port Authority at the General Motors Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Dominic Gwinn / Middle East Images via AFP via Getty Images)
“Our efforts have led to the recovery of over 350 stolen vehicles and behind every one of those stolen cars is a victim,” ICE HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Stentz said in a statement. “Our HSI special agents and law enforcement partners will continue to do the work necessary to take down these operations that harm everyday Americans.”
The recent indictment is merely the latest in what has become a surge in vehicle thefts throughout Michigan in recent years.
In 2023, the state saw 28,408 reported cases of motor vehicle thefts, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The uptick marked a 4.1% increase in thefts when compared to the previous year, and a 48.4% spike when compared to data from the past five years.
The Michigan Department of Attorney General did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge as they carry cargo between Canada and the United States on Feb. 3, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“I think any large metropolitan area has some auto theft issues,” Kyle McPhee, a stolen vehicle identification specialist and retired detective sergeant with the Michigan State Police, told Fox News Digital. “Detroit happens to be a port city. You can put something in a shipping container and it can be at a port in no time.”
Organized crime groups will often swipe vehicles from a manufacturer’s lot or ones simply parked on the street, with some criminals recruiting juveniles due to the less harsh legal penalties for minors, according to McPhee.
“They’ll pay juveniles very little to go out and bring these vehicles back to wherever they’re going to cool them off,” McPhee said. “They’ll remove any tracking devices and they might cut the vehicle up so they can put it in a shipping container and call it ‘auto parts.’ Then when it gets to its destination, they might reassemble it.”
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The Marathon refinery is pictured in Detroit, Michigan, on Oct. 14, 2024. (Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
Once a shipping container arrives at port, McPhee said criminals will often fabricate the manifest logs to fool officials regarding its contents.
“They’ll say ‘household goods,’ and there might be five cars in there and two mattresses,” McPhee added.
The process makes it nearly impossible for authorities to verify the contents of each of the millions of containers passing through each port every year, with organized crime groups within the United States often coordinating with international criminals, according to McPhee.
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“They have backscatter machines and x-rays that look into the shipping containers, but you’re talking about a million shipping containers on some of these ports are tough,” McPhee said. “It’s a tough duty. You have to also be careful of what’s coming into the country, and now we have to look at what’s going out.”
The rise in vehicle thefts throughout Michigan has led state officials to create the Auto Fraud Task Force (AFTF) earlier this year.
The unit combats both auto insurance fraud and large-scale criminal auto theft operations within Metro Detroit by partnering with various law enforcement agencies throughout the area, according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.
“With the rise of auto thefts across our communities, expanding the Auto Fraud Task Force is an important step to strengthen our fight against both vehicle theft and insurance fraud, crimes that impact far too many Michigan residents each year,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “Through this new structure, we are enhancing our efforts to dismantle these sophisticated, organized auto crime enterprises across our state.”
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As authorities race to track down stolen vehicles before they are loaded onto shipping containers, while also investigating how criminal groups on American soil are working with international crime organizations, McPhee insisted there is one key component in what is driving the uptick in vehicle thefts throughout Michigan.
“The one key connection is somebody’s getting paid,” McPhee told Fox News Digital. “There’s money to be made. So if you have a local organized gang, they can be connected internationally to another group very easily. We have the internet, it’s not hard.”
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GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.
These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.
The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.
“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven
“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.
O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.
Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – A Rapid City church is hosting a free community event Thursday to raise awareness about human trafficking, with organizers saying the danger may be closer than people think.
The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League at Bethlehem Lutheran Church is opening the presentation to the entire community because organizers say awareness alone can save a life.
“If we can get 20 people to understand what to look for — if we can get 20 people to understand that this organization exists — then we can start shining light into every corner, and suddenly it’ll be a better world,” said Alexandra Loverink, co-president of LWML Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
Event details
The free presentation is Thursday, May 14 at 6 p.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Rushmore Street. The speaker is Reverend Tess Franzen, founder of Freedom’s Journey, a Rapid City-based ministry that has assisted hundreds of trafficking survivors over more than a decade.
Franzen said the problem in South Dakota is far more widespread than most people realize.
“We see mostly sex trafficking, but much of what we see is — some people might call it homegrown or familial,” Franzen said. “We see trafficking here where young people are being trafficked out, their family members are selling access to them when they’re children. And in many cases, they don’t really even realize there’s anything wrong with it.”
Organizer Cari Garwood-Beard said Franzen’s presentation changed how she sees her own neighborhood, and she wants others to have that same wake-up call.
“She told a story about her neighbor one time — just a good old guy — and found out that he was a trafficker. Her neighbor, who she thought was above boards,” Garwood-Beard said. “And it really hit home. My next-door neighbor could be.”
A freewill offering will be collected for Freedom’s Journey at Thursday’s event. Bethlehem Lutheran Church is at 1630 Rushmore Street.
Resources
If you suspect trafficking, dial 9-1-1 or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
For more information about Freedom’s Journey, visit their website or call 805.380.8009.
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Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office
FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. – Two people from Illinois were arrested following a police chase that started in Fond du Lac County and ended in Winnebago County on Friday, May 8.
Initial traffic stop
What we know:
According to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office, just after 1 p.m. the sheriff’s office got an alert for a stolen vehicle out of Illinois heading northbound on I-41 from County Road Y.
It was learned that the vehicle was involved in two different police chases in the past week in Illinois, but had eluded officers each time.
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A short time later, a deputy spotted the vehicle on I-41 near Winnebago Street. The deputy continued to follow the suspect vehicle northbound, waiting for more deputies to get into position to attempt a high-risk traffic stop. Once those deputies were in position, a high-risk traffic stop was conducted. The vehicle initially pulled over and stopped, but right after deputies got out of their squad cars and started telling the people to get out of the vehicle, it instead fled northbound on I-41.
Chase into Winnebago County
What we know:
The chase went into Winnebago County, with the vehicle failing to pullover and instead speeding up. As the chase continued, the vehicle continued driving recklessly, passing by other vehicles on the interstate, including passing on the shoulder and weaving between vehicles, all at a high rate of speed.
The vehicle exited I-41 and ran three red lights. The chase continued southbound on State Highway 26, with the vehicle continuing to pass vehicles at a high rate of speed on the two-lane highway.
The vehicle then went off the road and drove through the yard of a home before circling around in the yard, traveling through the ditch, and reentering the highway going northbound. It then went into a field near County Road Z and Clay Road.
As a sergeant with the sheriff’s office was moving in to perform a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT Maneuver), the suspect vehicle went into reverse and rammed the front of the squad. The vehicle then attempted to leave the field by traveling through a ditch and back up onto the road, where another sheriff’s squad ended the chase by intentionally striking the vehicle and pushing it off the road and back into the ditch.
The vehicle rolled over in the ditch, came to rest upright, but was then disabled and could not move. Two people got out of the vehicle and were taken into custody. The vehicle started on fire and a fire department had to respond to extinguish the fire. Both people from the vehicle were evaluated by medical personnel on scene.
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Facing charges
What we know:
The driver of the vehicle was identified as a 23-year-old man from Des Plaines, Illinois. He was taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail on the following charges:
- Fleeing/Eluding an Officer
- 1st-Degree Reckless Endangering Safety (2 Counts)
- Resisting/Obstructing Officer
- Delivering Illegal Articles by Inmate (Ecstasy Pills).
The driver’s criminal history in Illinois was flagged as armed and dangerous with previous weapons offenses, dangerous drug offenses, and criminal damage to property.
The passenger of the vehicle was identified as a 23-year-old woman from Franklin Park, Illinois. She was taken to the Fond du Lac County Jail on the following charges:
- Fleeing/Eluding—Party to a Crime
- 1st Degree Reckless Endangering Safety—Party to a Crime
- Possession of THC
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
- Resisting and Obstructing an Officer
The Source: The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office sent FOX6 a press release.
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