02x07 - Stolen Cars

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

(distant sirens wailing)

(car engine revving)

MARIANA: Since the
first model Ts began
rolling off the assembly line,

Americans have fallen
deeply in love with cars.

They are as personal
as clothes or tattoos,

part of the stories
we tell about ourselves.

Hollywood knows how
we feel about them.

Whether they're
taking us on an
adventure or on a vacation,

or even, to the future.

We talk to them.

MICHAEL: You all right?

KITT: I can't take
another blow like that.

MARIANA: We give them names.

CAROLE: Herbie!

MARIANA: We race them.

DOMINIC: Let's go
for a little ride.

MARIANA: We wreck them.

But mostly, we adore them.

WALTER: Where's your car dude?

MARIANA: Which is why I just
had to do a story about people

who steal them.

On average, every 36 seconds,

a car is stolen here
in the United States.

It's big money.

And it's often done by
somebody just like this.

Oh my God, what if
the people come out?

(car engine revving)

Oh my God, that took, like,
less than five seconds.

(bleep).

(car engine revving)

(theme music playing)

(ticking)

MARIANA: Okay, this is it.

Watch out, watch out.

Oh my God, this is insane.

♪ ♪

MAN: Woo, woo, woo!

Woo!

MARIANA: How many cars do
you think are here tonight?

MAN: Usually we'll get 5,000
or more cars coming here.

MARIANA: Seriously?
MAN: 100%.

MARIANA: I mean,
a gathering of so
many cars, the donuts.

MAN 2: Woo!

MARIANA: None of
that is legal right?

(laughter)

MAN: I don't know, no comment.

MAN 2: No comment.

MAN: No comment.

MARIANA: How many cars
here do you think are stolen?

MAN: Thousands.

MARIANA: I've reported on
a lot of ill*gal activities,

but I've never done a
story about stolen cars.

I was tipped off however
that these late‐night meet‐ups

would be a good
place to start digging.

Like most of
these folks, I followed a
trail of social media posts

to this location
in New York City.

It was announced last minute

so that the police wouldn't
be able don't shut it down.

(cheering)

This underground car culture
is the real‐life version of

The Fast and the Furious.

ROMAN: Hey man, we got
cars flying in the air?

MARIANA: The popularity of
these events has exploded with

the success of the franchise.

(popping)

But not all attendees
can afford a fancy car.

So, these meet‐ups
have become a popular
playground for joyriders.

MAN: Woo‐hoo!

(fireworks exploding)

MARIANA: Okay so, do you guys
know anyone who steals cars?

MAN 2: Uh, no.

MAN: Nah, no, I don't
personally know anyone, no.

No.

MARIANA: If you did,
would you tell me?

MAN: No, probably not.
MAN 2: No.

MARIANA: After decades
of decline in the US,

auto theft spiked
in 2020 to the tune
of nearly 900,000 cars.

MAN: Yes, sir.

MARIANA: Have you
ever stolen a car?

ANTHONY: Stolen, yeah, um,

my first car I stole
was when I was 16.

MARIANA: I wind up talking to
a guy we're calling Anthony.

How easy is it to steal a car?

MARIANA: I learned
that the old "Tow and Go,"

is one of
several unsophisticated,

yet popular
ways to steal a car.

If you're a
car thief, sometimes
you've got the right tools.

REPORTER (over TV): A
dark‐colored tow truck
backs up to a house and

steals this car
while the owner slept.

MARIANA: Sometimes
you need a g*n.

WOMAN (over TV): My life
flashed before my eyes.

I literally was
like, "This is it."

MARIANA: And
sometimes your targets
are just not careful enough.

REPORTER 2 (over TV):
This is surveillance video
of a car left warming up

that was stolen last week.

MARIANA: About
half of stolen cars
in the United States end

up back in the hands
of their rightful owners.

That leaves over
$4 billion worth of
unrecovered cars that

wind up everywhere from
used car lots to chop shops.

(sirens wailing)

MAN: We gotta move,
we gotta move.

(sirens wailing)

MARIANA: So, the
police is coming so you
hear everybody's running.

MAN: Yo, we out.

We out, we out, yo, yeah, yeah.

MARIANA: And you see
everybody running to
their cars and leaving?

Look, it's good.

(sirens wailing)

Oh, wow.

MARIANA: How old are you now?

MARIANA: How much
money have you made from
the cars you've stolen so far?

MARIANA: Anthony tells me that
it's harder for the cops to

trace the parts of a stolen car.

But the thieves
who make the big money
must take a bigger risk,

selling the whole car intact.

MARIANA: It turns out there's
an underground supply chain

of stolen cars
exported overseas.

That's one of
the most lucrative
smuggling routes in the game.

So how exactly how does a
two‐ton object packed with

antitheft technology
completely disappear?

Where does it end up?

And who's pulling
the strings on such
a complicated operation?

That's exactly what
I want to find out.

(sirens wailing)

Okay.

So, this is it.

We're about two minutes
from the Newark airport.

I actually think I've
stayed at this hotel before.

I learned that one hub for these
international car theft rings

is based just a few miles down
the road in Newark, New Jersey.

Oh, this is it.

Yeah, definitely.

This is it.

For a long time,
the city was known as

the stolen car
capital of the world.

Hi, Mariana.

MARIANA: Number One, I heard?
NUMBER ONE: Yeah.

MARIANA: How you
want to be called?

MARIANA: For years, Number One

was part of a
operation known for moving

millions of dollars' worth
of luxury vehicles overseas.

We ran a few cars
by you and you said

this is one that you used
to regularly, you've stolen.

NUMBER ONE: Mm‐hmm.

MARIANA: How many of
these particular cars do
you think you've stolen?

NUMBER ONE: I can't,
I can't even count.

It's maybe thousands.

MARIANA: Wait, thousands
just of this make and model?

NUMBER ONE: Yeah.

MARIANA: Was this
one of your favorites?

NUMBER ONE: None of
them is my favorite.

Money is my favorite.

MARIANA: Eventually
his luck ran out.

Over the course of a
two‐year investigation called,

"Operation Jacked,"

authorities
seized hundreds of cars
valued at over $12 million,

and convicted more
than 50 car ring members,

including Number One.

When I heard that he'd
been released from prison,
I managed to track him down.

He was reluctant to talk on
camera at first, because he
told me he's out of the game.

But eventually he
agreed to show us a
few of his old tricks.

(phone line ringing)

NUMBER ONE: Oh, yeah.

MAN (over phone): It's, it's
in the front, rearview mirror.

NUMBER ONE: So, it's in the
front by the rearview mirror.

Okay.

And then I
gotta go in the back.

NUMBER ONE: All right,
love you, bro.

MARIANA: Who was it?

MARIANA: At doing this?
At stealing cars?

NUMBER ONE: Yeah, Yeah.

MARIANA: What were you doing?

What was your...

NUMBER ONE: Oh, I disabled
the little tracking device,

it's like OnStar,

it keeps them from
being able to find the car.

MARIANA: Of course, we don't
want to advertise too much.

NUMBER ONE: No, Yeah.

MARIANA: But there's
something over there in
the rearview mirror and

then there's something in the
back and that disables the GPS?

NUMBER ONE: Mm‐hmm, yep.

MARIANA: And every car has...

NUMBER ONE: Not every car,

but majority cars
have a tracking device.

And they're in
different places.

MARIANA: So, when you
called him right now,

all you said was the
model and the make of the
car and he immediately knew?

NUMBER ONE: Yeah, he
knows where everything at.

MARIANA: Does he
think that you're
actually trying to steal a car?

NUMBER ONE: Yeah.
MARIANA: Did he say anything?

No?

NUMBER ONE: No.

Just was automatic
gave me the information
that I needed because

it could have been critical.

You have no time to waste.

"Yo, where you at?

What you got?

None of you (bleep)
business I need your help."

MARIANA: Number One
insists that cops have only

cracked the tip of the iceberg.

The big players are
still very much in the game.

MARIANA: I asked if
he's able to connect
me to any active players,

but he tells me
it's too risky.

MARIANA: Unfortunately,
in my experience,

"luck" doesn't open many doors.

I need to find someone who
trusts me enough to show me
how this racket really works.

(phone line ringing)

MAN (over phone): Mariana?

MARIANA: Hey, we're a,
a couple blocks away.

Like a minute away.

MAN (over phone):
All right that's cool.

I'm on my way too.

MARIANA: Okay, bye.

I decide to tap an
old connection from the
drug trafficking underworld.

He tells me that when his
dealers head out for a job,

they'll rent a stolen car
for a couple hours from

a crew of car thieves.

He's managed to set
up a meeting with one
he calls, fittingly, Klepto.

(sighs)

No matter how many
times you do this, you
always get a little nervous.

(beeping)

MARIANA: Good, how are you?
KLEPTO: I'm Good.

MARIANA: Okay,
what cars are those?

MARIANA: Yeah, you
see the, you see them?

Ah, the trash cans
are right there.

Ah, he's actually
taking out the trash can
from the front of a car,

so he can move the car.

Okay, he's doing it,
he's doing it right now.

Look, look, look.

He's doing it.

Oh my God, did you see that?

♪ ♪

MARIANA: Okay, he's doing it,
he's doing it right now.

Look, look, look.

Oh my God, did you see that?

Oh my, that took like
less than five seconds.

What did he do?

He did something to
the handle, then it
made a noise and it opened.

Do you see this?

He just put the window down
and went like this and waved.

(distant sirens wailing)

(bleep).

That was (bleep) crazy.

Oh, my God.

I don't even, I'm, like,
totally discombobulated.

I don't know what, oh my God.

And now they're
going super‐fast and I'm
supposed to keep up with them.

And yeah, now we're just
driving behind a stolen car.

And they're
parking right here.

So that was insane.

Gone in 60 seconds,
in your case, it was
gone in five seconds.

KLEPTO: Exactly, that's a lie.

MARIANA: But I
saw you had a little
trouble with the handle?

KLEPTO: Uh, our keys
don't open car locks.

MARIANA: How did
you open the lock then?

KLEPTO: Uh, can't really
tell you that little secret.

MARIANA: Okay.

And then once you're inside,
the ignition starts.

KLEPTO: Yes, it's a,
it's a programed key.

MARIANA: Mm‐hmm.

KLEPTO: And you can program
the key to any damn car.

MARIANA: Since
most modern cars are
glorified computers on wheels,

all that dealerships
and locksmiths need to
reprogram a virgin key fob is

the car's vin number.

And all car thieves need is
a savvy but corrupt, mechanic.

And so you did your first one.

I know you're in a bit of a
rush now to go do your second.

KLEPTO: Yes.

MARIANA: What's
the second car?

KLEPTO: It's a Mercedes.

MARIANA: So it's
a Mercedes, you know it's
somewhere in this neighborhood.

KLEPTO: Yes.

MARIANA: What, what is
this neighborhood like?

KLEPTO: It's, uh, a
lot of White people, man.

And you're talking about
multimillion‐dollar homes here.

It's okay.

You know, they
cheat a lot of people.

So everybody cheats people,
rich people cheat people.

Why not?

Let's cheat, so...

MARIANA: What you did,
does it ever cross your mind?

How are they
going to feel when they
wake up in the morning and

they don't see their cars?

KLEPTO: They
ain't going to suffer.

They're not going to do
anything about a damn car.

It ain't nothing.

You're stealing
money from the bank.

Insurance covers your money.

MARIANA: But
insurance claims go up for
everybody we all actually,

at the end of the day, end
up paying for cars being stolen.

KLEPTO: Oh, of course.

Of course, that
doesn't make me a bad guy.

WOMAN (over TV):
Every time he was pointing
the g*n at me, I was like,

I went like, "No, please!
Don't, don't, don't, please."

And cause he was like
boom and boom, like that.

He was just
hitting me with the g*n.

It was horrible.

MARIANA: So tell me,
what's the crew?

KLEPTO: Well, I got my
spotter that jumps out
and takes care of my corner.

Any cop that's
coming in, whatever,

I already know
the whistle he make.

(whistles)

I got my person that's
driving right here.

He's in a tinted‐up truck.

He parks away from me.

And then of course I got my
other little buddy over there

who parks a little bit
further just, you know.

MARIANA: To keep an eye out?
KLEPTO: Of course. Of course.

He signals him.

That guy signals him.

I got to have at least
two blocks covered, girl.

'Cause no, no, no, no.

I'm not trying to
go to jail again.

MARIANA: And you
were shot at before?

KLEPTO: Oh, plenty of times.

MARIANA: Oh, my God.

What if the people come out?

This makes me so nervous.

Oh, my God,
I feel so bad for
whoever's car this is.

That was insane, and I've
seen a lot of crazy (bleep).

What starts to come into focus
as I'm talking to Klepto is

the organizational structure of
these international operations.

Crews of thieves like Klepto's
are the bottom of the pyramid.

Once they steal a car,
I'm told they want to get
rid of it as soon as possible.

But how?

And to whom?

That's what I'm
itching to uncover; the
next levels of the pyramid.

You dropped off the cars
today at the parking lot,
what happens to those cars?

KLEPTO: Yes.

Well, right now, the guys
are gonna go clean 'em up
and then they're gonna go...

MARIANA: What do you
mean by clean them up?

KLEPTO: That's my expertise.

MARIANA: After years of success
running a crew of thieves,

Klepto's career in stolen cars
has actually progressed.

He's now also
working in a position
that's known as, "The Fence."

How did you
learn how to do that?

KLEPTO: Since I was
a little kid, working
at body shops, you know,

family members,
stealing other cars, you
learn tricks of the trade.

MARIANA: The Fence is the key
middleman in the operation.

It's his job to handle
the logistics of laundering
a stolen car to disguise

the fact that it's stolen.

And then what
happens after that?

KLEPTO: Um, the LoJacks.

So they won't track them.

MARIANA: The GPS?
KLEPTO: Yes.

MARIANA: So you have somebody
who knows how to do that?

KLEPTO: Yes.

MARIANA: Locate
the GPS, remove it.

And then what
happens after that?

KLEPTO: We change the numbers.
MARIANA: The VIN numbers?

KLEPTO: Yes.

MARIANA: You have
another person who knows
how to change VIN numbers?

KLEPTO: Yeah.

MARIANA: The
Vehicle Identification Number,

or VIN,

is a unique lifetime
ID born from the moment a
car rolls out of the factory.

Klepto doesn't reveal
how they change the VINs,

but once a new
VIN number is installed,

they'll forge new title and
registration documents to match.

And how much do
you get paid per car?

KLEPTO: Just depends
on the car, like the...

MARIANA: So the
Mercedes for tonight, how much?

KLEPTO: About $30,000.
MARIANA: $30,000.

KLEPTO: Yeah.

MARIANA: At each
step in the process,

Klepto pays off
the players involved.

KLEPTO: The key costs me four.

MARIANA: $4,000 for the key?
KLEPTO: Yeah.

MARIANA: 3,000 to
each of the thieves.

2,000 to the VIN forger,

1,000 to the wheelman
who disables the GPS.

So it's that profitable
that you can still make money
while paying all these people?

KLEPTO: Yes, I can.

MARIANA: Meaning for a
car like the Mercedes,

after paying off the crew,

he'll bank around $12,000.

KLEPTO: It's sold to the
buyer that's asking for it.

They send it
into the container.

You'll never see it again.

MARIANA: The car transfers
hands to the final player on

the US side of the network,

The Shipper.

MARIANA: I meet
back up with Number One,

who I know has experience at
this level of the operation.

Over the years, he
says he's made these
drops many, many times.

MARIANA: Where were
the containers going?

MARIANA: Do you
know where exactly?

MARIANA: Number One agrees
to drive me to the location

where he'd rendezvous with
the shippers but warns me that

this hand‐off is still the
most dangerous in the process.

NUMBER ONE: Right here
where this car's parked
in front of that gate.

MARIANA: Yeah.

NUMBER ONE: That's
where we used to pull
up and drive in there,

put the car in the containers
and then they leave there.

MARIANA: So the containers
would be here waiting?

NUMBER ONE: If they
said 10:00 at night,

then we'd meet them
there 10:00 at night.

Any one of these trucks
could be in the process
of doing that right now.

MARIANA: Oh my God.

We have no way of knowing
if thieves will be packing

these containers
with stolen cars tonight.

But if they are,
it's definitely not
safe to stick around.

NUMBER ONE: See
that car is still here.

It's dangerous like
that because we don't know
exactly what they're doing.

MARIANA: Right.

And if they see us
around here with cameras.

NUMBER ONE: Yeah, exactly.

You don't ask questions
when somebody's standing
there with M16s, AK47s.

MARIANA: They were armed, the
people running the business?

Weren't you scared?

MARIANA: I press
Number One about who are the
kingpins of these car rings but

he either doesn't
know or won't say.

So I do what any
good journalist does,
I follow the money.

To the port in Newark,
where there's one final hurdle

standing in
these smugglers' way.

Oh.

OFFICER: Oh,
that's a nice one.

OFFICER 2: Oh, is it there?

MARIANA: Wow!
That's crazy.

♪ ♪

(snaps)

MARIANA: Oh.

OFFICER: Oh,
that's a nice one.

That's a beautiful
Jeep right there.

MARIANA: Wow.
OFFICER 2: Pop the other door.

MARIANA: Wow.

So is this
possibly a stolen car?

OFFICER: Yes.
OFFICER 2: Possibly.

MARIANA: Per chance,
a stolen vehicle?

OFFICER: Absolutely.
OFFICER 2: Very good chance.

MARIANA: A very good chance?

OFFICER: Two in there.
MARIANA: Two?

OFFICER: See, Mercedes‐Benz.

OFFICER 2: Oh,
there's a, there it is.

OFFICER 3: A Mercedes‐Benz.

MARIANA: So there's a
Mercedes‐Benz in front,
there's a Jeep here.

OFFICER: Brand new, 350.
MARIANA: Wow, brand new.

They're both brand new cars.

OFFICER: So here we
have a couple of ships.

MARIANA: The US Customs and
Border Protection's main focus

is to intercept contraband
coming into the United States,

not heading outbound.

It's just row after
row after row here.

OFFICER: Thousands
of containers.

This is the
largest port on the East Coast.

MARIANA: They estimate that
they're only able to inspect

a small fraction of cars
leaving the United States.

So that's a VIN number?

OFFICER: This is the VIN number
right here on the dash.

MARIANA: Which is good
news for the car theft rings

I've been investigating.

OFFICER 2: It's
coming up as a positive.

MARIANA: Positive what, stolen?

OFFICER 2: We've got a
positive stolen, yeah.

MARIANA: Wow.

So it's immediate, you can tell.

OFFICER: Right away.

MARIANA: If you look inside,
you can still see there's

a cell phone charger inside.

OFFICER: Yeah.

MARIANA: So you can see some
of the personal belongings of

the person whose
vehicle this belonged to.

OFFICER 2: Right
out the driveway.

MARIANA: Right out
the driveway, yeah.

So does a car like this, now
that you've found it's stolen,

and you know
eventually who the owner was,

does it go back to the
owner or what happens?

OFFICER 2: Well, the insurance
had already made the payout,

so this just goes back
to the insurance company.

MARIANA: I kind of
feel bad for the owner
of the car who, stolen.

OFFICER: Like this.
MARIANA: Yeah.

And the fact that
we're all standing on
top of his car right now.

(laughter)

MARIANA: Once a vessel departs
for international waters,

the cars that slip
through have a much, much
slimmer chance for recovery.

OFFICER: This was all the
same container, four cars.

Ending with this,
the Escalade.

They have it packed
with personal effects.

MARIANA: Mm‐hmm.

OFFICER: There
could be g*ns in here.

There could be all sorts
of different contraband.

MARIANA: Right.

OFFICER: These three cars
were in one container.

If you look,
you got two of them
that were salvage cars,

they're smashed up,

and then we had this
here 2021 Land Rover.

Right there,
it's a flag for me.

MARIANA: Why?

OFFICER: Something,
it's out of place.

You're gonna put
a 2021 Land Rover
in with two wrecks

where it might get damaged?

MARIANA: Mm‐hmm.

How many cars are
exported from here every year?

OFFICER: Approximately
400,000 cars a year.

That 30,000 cars a month.

MARIANA: What, you
go through all of them,

or how does that work?

OFFICER: It's impossible
to go through all of them.

What was found last
year was 310 stolen cars

out of this port.

I would like to think
that's all of them, 310,

but that's not true.

It's really like finding
a needle in a haystack.

MARIANA: So who's actually
making money with all this?

OFFICER: Well, everybody
involved is making money.

Who's making the most?

My guess is it's overseas.

MARIANA: It hadn't actually
occurred to me before that

the real moneymakers of this
operation aren't here in the US.

If there's truly that much
money to be made overseas,

it begs the question,

"Who's atop this pyramid, and
will I be able to find them?"

How soon after a car
is stolen does it end up
in a container like this?

OFFICER: If
somebody is stealing it,
let's call it New York,

put it in a container,
next couple hours, it's,

it's on terminal
ready to be departed.

MARIANA: Wow,
could be that fast,

like the same day,
next day, kinda.

OFFICER: Could be that day.

They steal 'em from outside,
have 'em trucked into Jersey.

Put 'em in a container here.

And out they go to a number
of different destinations.

MARIANA: One of the most
popular destinations for
stolen cars shipped from

the East Coast, is
5,000 miles across

the Atlantic Ocean
in West Africa.

♪ ♪

♪ Love all the people ♪♪

MARIANA: In a developing nation,

owning a car can be
synonymous with entry
into the middle class.

♪ Mothers, fathers ♪

♪ Set for peace ♪♪

MARIANA: Nowhere is
that more evident than Ghana,

home to one of
the fastest‐growing
economies on the planet.

♪ All that has been done ♪

♪ Can change,
can change, can change ♪♪

MARIANA: Walk around
the capital, Accra, and
you'll feel the energy,

opportunity is in the air.

♪ What he said ♪

♪ And on and on ♪

♪ Understand it ♪

♪ Loving mothers,
loving fathers ♪♪

MARIANA: So it's a huge
industry here in Ghana.

PETER: Yes.

MARIANA: "Peter"
as we'll call him,

is a local investigative
journalist who tells me that

rising incomes have
opened the door to new
black‐markets like stolen cars.

What would happen if
people found out you
were helping us out?

PETER: That would
mean that somebody
putting an end to your life.

MARIANA: Is it that dangerous?
PETER: It's very dangerous.

First of all, you're
dealing with a society who,

where people don't want
to even accept the fact that

the activity should be
investigated in the first place.

MARIANA: Mm‐hmm.

So, you think
actually that a lot of the
people that buy these cars

don't know that
they're stolen cars?

PETER: A lot of
people don't know.

MARIANA: But some do?
PETER: Some do.

But people who
know don't care.

Because at the end of
the day it's like, do
you manufacture cars?

No.

So it's not as if the action
is k*lling any local industry.

MARIANA: The vast majority
of cars in Ghana are imported.

In fact,
they're the number one
imported item in the country.

PETER: People want to
have more exotic lives, if
you meet an old schoolmate.

MARIANA: Right.

PETER: They're able to judge
you by the car you drive.

So everybody wants to
drive a good car whether they
are cheap or, you know um...

MARIANA: Stolen.
PETER: Stolen.

And that's why
black‐market industries as
far as cars is booming here.

MARIANA: So can you
tell me more or less
how the process works?

So the cars arrive.

PETER: So you find the
people they are getting
it from these Fraud Boys.

MARIANA: What are they called?

PETER: Fraud Boys.

MARIANA: So the guys
involved in this car business,

they're called the Fraud Boys?

PETER: The Fraud Boys, yes.

MARIANA: And
everybody knows about them?

It's well‐known?

PETER: Everybody.

Everybody knows about them.

MARIANA: And is it all sort
of the same syndicate then?

MARIANA: Peter says
he can connect me to a
contact who's inside their

tight knit circles,
but it's unclear what
role this person plays.

There's a guy who is
somehow involved in this, uh,

car business who's
agreed to talk to us.

So we're driving to what might
be his house or his business,

I'm not sure.

The sun is actually
going down really fast.

It's gonna get dark soon.

You don't wanna get
stuck in these unknown roads
in the middle of the night.

Well, that didn't happen.

Okay, I'll go out first.

Little did I know that
I had just stepped inside

the nerve center of
the entire operation.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: I learned that there
are criminal groups behind

the stolen car
game here in Ghana.

They are known as Fraud Boys.

(car horns honking)

I wanted to meet them
face‐to‐face and find out
who's pulling the strings.

♪ I guess they ♪

♪ I guess they can ♪♪

MARIANA: And if you can
put your mask up again, sorry.

♪ I guess they ♪♪

MARIANA: So how do
you wanna be called?

MARIANA: Shadow Walker?
SHADOW WALKER: Yes.

MARIANA: Is that
your online name?

SHADOW WALKER: Yeah,
that's my online name.

MARIANA: In an apartment
on the outskirts of Accra,

I connect with one of
these infamous Fraud Boys.

What, what is it
exactly that you do?

MARIANA: And what I
found was the heart
of the entire operation.

MARIANA: Okay.

MARIANA: Using an
anonymous browser called Tor,

he accesses the
dark web and logs into

underground hacker forums where

almost any product
is listed for sale.

Oh, cocaine.

Colombian cocaine on the list.

SHADOW WALKER: Yes, of course.
MARIANA: Or crack.

MARIANA: Oh,
somebody's selling this?

SHADOW WALKER:
They, they are selling.

MARIANA: If you've
ever received an email
from your favorite retailer

apologizing for a
huge data breach.

REPORTER (over TV): A massive
cyber‐attack affecting nearly

50 million Facebook users...

REPORTER 2 (over TV):
More than 100 million
Capital One credit cards...

MARIAN: It's possible
that your identity and
credit card information is

being sold at an underground
hacker forum just like his.

Is there tons
of these for sale?

MARIANA: For $15.
SHADOW WALKER: Yeah, for $15.

MARIANA: What?
SHADOW WALKER: Yeah.

MARIANA: For a pittance,

paid anonymously
in crypto currency,

criminals can buy
your credit card info and

load it onto a fresh card.

And then what do you do, uh,
with all that information?

MARIANA: In the US?
SHADOW WALKER: Yes.

MARIANA: With a
stolen credit card and

a fake ID, these guys can walk
into any car rental location

and drive off
with a car that will
wind up 5,000 miles away

on the streets of Accra.

No broken windows.

No fake key fobs.

No carjacking.

Clean and efficient.

It's right about
now that I truly grasp
who I'm standing next to.

He isn't some
entry level page,

but rather a
technological wizard who binds

the whole operation together.

And he has one more
trick up his sleeve.

So this is a car, let's say,
coming from New York to Ghana?

SHADOW WALKER: Yes.

MARIANA: The import fee.
SHADOW WALKER: Yes.

MARIANA: Import duties
can cost up to 20%

of the market value of a car.

So a brand‐new Range Rover

valued at $100,000
would be taxed 20 grand.

MARIANA: So you can
hack into the customs
service at the harbor.

SHADOW WALKER: Yeah.

MARIANA: I'm blown
away by their methods.

In addition to their
American contacts who

steal cars the
old‐fashioned way,

these sophisticated Ghanaian
operators have found other,

more ingenious ways to
swipe our beloved rides.

It all points to the kingpin
at the top of the pyramid and

I want to meet whoever
that is, face‐to‐face.

Do you know anyone
who's involved in other
parts of the car business?

MARIANA: I keep pushing,
and after some persistence,

a contact finally
leads me to the breakthrough

I've been searching for, a
meeting with a mastermind.

We're actually very
close to the location.

It seems like a really
nice neighborhood here, right?

There's a bunch
of big houses.

MARIANA: Okay.

MARIANA: Is this
someone that we should trust?

♪ ♪

(knocking on door)

(knocks)

♪ ♪

(knocking on door)

(knocks)

MARIANA: Hi.

Um, thank you for meeting us.

Um, what, what is this?

What car is this?

IVAN: This is a
Mercedes‐Benz C250.

MARIANA: It's a nice car.

And it's from, it's stolen?

IVAN: Uh, yeah, this
came from the States.

MARIANA: Do you know
where in the States?

IVAN: I have no
idea where in the States
where it's coming from.

MARIANA: Like many of
these underworld first dates,

the vibe is tense, suspicious.

He asked to be called Ivan,

and I can sense
that he's sizing me up.

When did this arrive in Ghana?

IVAN: Two, three months ago.

MARIANA: Two,
three months ago.

And do you have
people interested already?

IVAN: This happens
to be in a garage, so.

MARIANA: Oh, so this is
in a car dealership, what
we call in the US, in a garage.

IVAN: Yes, yes,
this was in a car dealership.

MARIANA: So it's
one of several there?

IVAN: Like this is what I
have available at the moment.

MARIANA: Can I go inside?
IVAN: Yeah, sure.

Be my guest.

MARIANA: So crazy to
think of that just a
couple of months ago,

this car was in the US
belonging to somebody else.

What other cars
came in the same sort
of shipment as this one?

MARIANA: The
mood starts to relax.

I feel like he's
warming up to me.

He tells me that
his group is one of the
bigger operations in Accra,

and that they buy
stolen cars in bulk shipments.

How much did you
pay for this one?

IVAN: This one?
MARIANA: Yeah.

MARIANA: I know, but how much?

I just want to get a
sense of the amount.

IVAN: So...

MARIANA: But
ultimately he plays coy.

In spite of my efforts to
get more information from him,

he ended up refusing to
answer most of my questions.

How do I open this?

So I decide to poke around and

see if I can learn anything
more about this mystery car.

Oh, and this is because
the GPS has been cut out?

MARIANA: Wow,
so check this out,
this is tampered with.

What's in here?

Is this the Red Lobster?

Do you have Red Lobster here?

IVAN: No.
MARIANA: Oh, my God.

Virginia!

MARIANA: It's still...

MARIANA: I will, I will.

So we're close to
knowing that at least
the person was in Virginia.

MARIANA: You tried to hide
that as soon as possible.

He doesn't want
to really show that.

I won't say the
city in Virginia.

There was also a
city in Virginia.

I didn't say that.

(phone ringing)

IVAN: Uh, just a minute.

I don't know.

MARIANA: Maybe it's somebody
who wants to buy this car.

IVAN: Okay.

(laughs)

MARIANA: He's driving off.

He left before I could get
what I wanted, a confession.

A tell‐all interview about
the whole stolen car operation

from one of the big players.

The stolen Mercedes‐Benz that

got here just a few
months ago from the US.

I'm dying to know more
about this car's history.

Who owned it?

Do they miss it?

And do they have any idea
where their car is now?

Back in America, I get some
answers about this mystery car

from Detective Paula Brunetto

with the
Connecticut State Police.

She's been investigating
car theft rings for decades.

PAULA: Yeah, I looked at
the VIN and, um, so it's
from a 2014 Mercedes‐Benz

that was involved in
a serious crash which

caused it to
be a total loss.

No one's going
to drive this car.

You're telling me
that you saw this car
in Africa being driven,

and it was not
smashed up, right?

MARIANA: No, it's a
beautiful Mercedes‐Benz.

PAULA: Okay.

So the car you saw
was probably stolen.

MARIANA: With a VIN belonging...

PAULA: With a VIN number from
this one that was totaled in
a horrific crash in Florida.

MARIANA: A stolen
car's VIN number would
be flagged by authorities,

but a totaled
car's VIN wouldn't.

So there is no way that the
VIN on that car that I saw was

the real VIN number
for that car?

PAULA: I very, very much doubt
that the car you saw in Africa

was the same exact car.

The VIN number on
that car was re‐VINed and

is being driven
around in another country.

MARIANA: With some
clever coordination,

the Fraud Boys can swap
out the VIN of a stolen car,

with the same make
and model that they pick
up at a salvage auction.

MARIANA: There's
nothing to worry about?

MARIANA: It raises a question
about who's really calling

the shots in these operations.

And who's making
most of the money.

I needed to get some answers,

so I asked Ivan if he'd
be willing to meet me again.

In our first meeting,

he didn't divulge
much information,

and it's rare
to get a follow‐up
meeting with a top dog,

but I'm hoping it will happen.

I know there's a lot
more he's not telling me.

We were actually
told to wait in this, uh,
parking lot by this church.

Okay.

This is where he's
supposed to meet us.

I wasn't sure if he'd show up.

MARIANA: But now, it's go‐time.

♪ ♪

MARIANA: I managed to convince
one of the top Fraud Boys

in the stolen car
game in Ghana to meet me
for a rare second interview.

I'm hoping this will be
my chance for a tell‐all,

to see the stolen car
world through his eyes.

And here's another club and
here you go, more fancy cars.

You've got more Mercedes.

IVAN: Mm‐hmm.

MARIANA: He takes me to an area
known for nightlife in Accra.

A place where he and
fellow Fraud Boys come
to woo potential clients.

Mercedes, Mercedes
are big here, huh?

IVAN: Mercedes...
MARIANA: Maserati.

Do you think that's stolen?

MARIANA: You, really?

MARIANA: How much money do
you think we're talking about?

MARIANA: Up until this point,

I had assumed that the
American criminals were

the masterminds of
these operations and
that West Africa prove to be

a useful place to
offload their merchandise.

MARIANA: So who's
making most of the money?

MARIANA: But he's
finally spilling the
beans and as it turns out,

it's actually the opposite.

So you make most of the money?

MARIANA: The Fraud Boys
are not just the buyers,

they're the masterminds
of the operation.

And have found
willing American criminals
to do their dirty work.

The chain is sort
of separate from...

MARIANA: Cut off,
so that you don't know what
happens on the other side...

MARIANA: Right,
and that protects
the whole enterprise.

MARIANA: It's guys like Ivan in
West Africa, who are actually

at the top of
the pyramid in these
international car theft rings.

IVAN: Everybody wants
cheap stuff in Africa.

MARIANA: So even rich
people buy one that's cheap.

MARIANA: Oh, yeah,
that's a deal.

MARIANA: But that,
wouldn't that raise flags,
a car that's a third of.

MARIANA: But at
least it would raise some
sort of suspicion, right?

For the buyer, wouldn't
they think for a second,
"Oh, maybe this is."

MARIANA: So it
goes really deep.

MARIANA: The Fraud Boys,
like the name suggests,

are always on the lookout
for the next opportunity,

the next scam.

MARIANA: Right.

MARIANA: Their
tentacles stretch into

all sorts
of criminal activities.

Money laundering,
romance scams, gold fraud,

they're part of a
growing syndicate

that's way bigger
than I'd imagined.

Do you feel sorry
for the people that
woke up one morning and

they don't have their
cars outside their houses?

MARIANA: Okay but
isn't there a little
part of you that thinks,

"The poor guy
doesn't have a car.

Maybe he, like, saved all
his money to buy this car?"

MARIANA: Right,
it's far away.

MARIANA: With so much distance
between the steal and the sell,

it's not hard to
imagine feeling disconnected.

He might not feel guilty,

but others do.

Do you ever feel
bad for the people?

MARIANA: Do you
feel bad at all?

KLEPTO: No, I need the
money just probably badder,

more than worse than they do.

MARIANA: No matter
how you feel about

the justifications
for stealing these cars.

The truth is, as long as
the orders keep coming from
this side of the Atlantic,

the entire
underground pipeline is
bound to keep thriving.

There's no real deterrent
to stop doing this, right?

MARIANA: How many cars
do you estimate are being
stolen every day in this city?

KLEPTO: Oh, hundreds.

(sirens wailing)

Hundreds.

I mean, we don't
just steal them here.

MARIANA: They are
all across the country?

KLEPTO: Yeah, oh, yeah.