Baltimore CBP intercepts tractor dozer stolen in Maryland and destined to Ghana

BALTIMORE – Customs and Border Protection officers at the Area Port of Baltimore are among the busiest in the nation at intercepting stolen vehicle exports. Officers routinely see everything from SUVs and sedans, to vans and pickup trucks. Occasionally, they’ll encounter something a bit unusual as they did on September 3 when officers intercepted a 2015 Caterpillar D8T Dozer, valued at about $237,000.

CBP officers conducted a routine export examination on the dozer, which was being shipped to Accra, Ghana, and discovered that the vehicle identification number (VIN) matched a stolen vehicle report out of Carroll County, Maryland.

CBP officers contacted the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and confirmed that the theft report remained active. Officers seized the dozer.

Ghana is a popular destination for the stolen vehicles that CBP recovers. About 60%, or 151 of the 250 stolen vehicles exports that CBP officers in the Baltimore Field Office recovered last year were destined to West Africa nations, including 28 to Ghana.

Read about the Baltimore Field Office’s efforts to interrupt the international trade in stolen vehicles.

Auto manufacturers, dealers, rental companies, insurers, and private vehicle owners continue implementing measures to address auto theft. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, those efforts resulted in a 17% decrease in auto theft reports last year.

However, CBP continues to observe an increasing volume nationally of stolen vehicle export recoveries. During 2024, CBP ports of entry across the country recovered 1,445 stolen vehicles, about 10% more than in 2023, and 81% higher than in 2021.

“Customs and Border Protection officers continue to combat transnational criminal organizations by interrupting the international trade in stolen vehicles at our seaports,” said Jason Kropiewnicki, CBP’s Acting Area Port Director in Baltimore. “We will continue to secure our nation’s borders, recover stolen vehicle exports, and work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to hold these criminal organizations accountable.”

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 2024. 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.