Photo by Síle Moloney
Eight men, seven living in The Bronx, have been charged with a $6.6 million-dollar, New Jersey car theft operation of luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce, a scam which involved storing the vehicles in The Bronx before shipping them to West Africa, New York and New Jersey officials announced Tuesday, April 29.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced that the eight men have been charged in a multi-million-dollar auto theft scheme, capping a nine-month investigation dubbed “Operation High Rollers.”
The defendants were named as Mamadou Camara, 29, Lafontain Avenue, Bronx, Moussa Doumbia, 30, Belmont Avenue, Bronx, Arona Amadou, 35, East 212th Street, Bronx, Moubarak Djibril, 23, Paulding Avenue, Bronx (not in custody), Mohamed Kamara, 26, East 175th Street, Bronx, arraigned on April 23, released on his own recognizance, Mouslim Ouedaogo, 32, Colgate Avenue, Bronx, Mamadi Sidibe, 24, West 137th Street, Manhattan (not in custody), and Amadou Fofana, 35, Washington Avenue, Bronx (not in custody).
“This case reflects how car theft today is a global enterprise,” Clark said. “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, NJ and then sent to West Africa. My Office worked with the NYPD and NJ Attorney General Platkin’s office to identify and dismantle this group, and I thank them. We will not tolerate auto crime in The Bronx.”
Photo courtesy of law enforcement
Prosecutors said four of the defendants are variously charged in one indictment with four counts of first-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and 131 counts of criminal possession of stolen property in second or third degrees, according to the value of the vehicle, as well as fourth-degree conspiracy.
They said four of the defendants are charged in separate indictments with criminal possession of stolen property in the second or third degrees, and that five of the defendants were arrested on April 23, 2024. They said one was arraigned on April 23, four are awaiting arraignment on April 29, three have not yet been arrested, and five of the Bronx defendants are also charged in New Jersey with racketeering related to the theft of the cars.
“This case shows the sophistication and scale of today’s auto theft rings, stealing luxury vehicles across state lines, fencing them in the Bronx, and shipping them overseas,” Tisch said. “These are not low-level crimes; they are part of a multimillion-dollar black market that fuels violence and instability. Thanks to the extraordinary work of NYPD Auto Crime Division detectives, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, and our partners in New Jersey, this criminal network has been dismantled. We will continue to pursue those who profit from organized auto crime and protect New Yorkers from its ripple effects.”
Meanwhile, Platkin said, “Breaking into homes to steal key fobs to facilitate stealing vehicles adds a new layer of danger to car theft. Our law enforcement partners in New Jersey and New York are working to shut down these kinds of crimes.’ He added, “We’re thankful to Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and her team for working with us on this case. To combat organized auto theft rings we need to be able to reach across jurisdictions and state lines to keep everyone in the region safe and hold perpetrators accountable.”
According to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors worked with NYPD Auto Crime Division detectives and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office on the investigation, which began in July 2024. According to the investigation, cars stolen from New Jersey, Connecticut and New York were driven to a parking garage at 870 Jennings Street in Longwood, The Bronx. There, the buyers would inspect the vehicle, pay cash, and drive them out. Transactions were captured on video surveillance.
Photo courtesy of the Citizens’ App
Prosecutors said many of the vehicles were recovered in Elizabeth NJ, in shipping containers bound for Gambia and Ghana, by Homeland Security Investigations and Port Authority of New York/New Jersey.
On the subject of auto crime, Clark appeared to have been publicly criticized by the police commissioner recently. “Auto theft is a felony, so it needs to be charged as a felony,” the NY Post reported Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch as saying at the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City breakfast forum in Midtown Tuesday, April 15. “And when you don’t charge appropriately…you end up leading the city in stolen cars by a wide margin.”
We reached out to the district attorney’s office for a comment on the commissioner’s remarks and received the following statement: “We have a productive partnership with NYPD Auto Crime to address auto crime and vehicle theft, which has resulted in several long-term investigations of car theft crews and organized theft rings. This approach allows us to interrupt the patterns of these crimes and prosecute vigorously.”
It continued, “There is a difference between what the police charge at arrest and what we can prove in court. Charging decisions are made with the utmost integrity and we do not charge unless we have the evidence. Given that the Bronx is a hub for the sale of cars stolen from other jurisdictions, we will continue our stepped-up efforts to address auto crimes and hold people accountable for them.”
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Assistant District Attorney Miriam Bell-Blair, Assistant District Attorney Oscar Carias and Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Rozenblum, of the Trial Division, under the supervision of Jessica-Deanna Lupo, a deputy bureau chief in the Trial Division, under the overall supervision of James Brennan, deputy chief of the Trial Division, and Theresa Gottlieb, chief of the Trial Division.
Photo courtesy of law enforcement
She also thanked the NYPD Auto Crime Division, specifically NYPD Detectives Stephen Carey and Bryant Ventura for their work on the investigation.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until found guilty in a court of law.
*David Greene contributed to this story.
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