Baltimore Customs Officials Recover More Than $10M In Stolen Vehicles Being Shipped Outside U.S. This Year, Setting Record
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in the Baltimore field office recovered more than $10 million worth of stolen vehicles being shipped outside the country in 2019, setting a new yearly record, the agency said Monday.
The agency said officers in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, recovered 246 stolen vehicles this year, more than double the 112 vehicles recovered last year. Two hundred thirty-one of the vehicles were recovered from the Port of Baltimore alone.
The vast majority -- 95 percent -- were destined for countries in western Africa.
Baltimore's field office ranked second in the country behind New York, which recovered 257 stolen vehicles. Nationwide, officials recovered 1,023 stolen vehicles, CBP said.
The agency reports seeing a significant increase in the number of recovered stolen vehicles in the past two years.