Essex County Police Help Bust International Carjacking Ring: Authorities

By Daniel Hubbard (Patch Staff) with additional reporting by Eric Kiefer

Twenty-one people have been charged in a takedown of an international carjacking and theft ring that allegedly stole 90 luxury vehicles from the Route 17 corridor, authorities announced Wednesday.

The ring allegedly operated in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Mommouth, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Somerset counties, authorities said.

Participating agencies in the initiative – dubbed “Operation 17 Corridor” - included the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police Department, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, South Orange Police Department, Essex County Sheriff’s Office and the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office.

“This is the second major carjacking ring that we have dismantled in the span of less than two years,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

“The last time we took down a major carjacking ring, the focus of the operation was Essex County, and the result of that operation and the ongoing work of the State Police and the Essex County Carjacking Task Force was dramatic… carjackings were cut by nearly two-thirds,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice.

Eighteen men were arrested Tuesday on charges, including: racketeering, carjacking, and money laundering, officials said. Three more fugitives have had warrants issued for their arrests.

The $4 million in stolen vehicles were taken from communities in North and Central Jersey and shipped to West Africa where they are in high demand, said state Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

Approximately 90 stolen cars were recovered in the multi-agency, 16-month long investigation led by the New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.

One alleged carjacking committed by ring members involved a 2014 BMW 650i stolen out of Montclair. The victim stated that during the incident, a man got out of a silver Mercedes, unsuccessfully attempted to pull his shirt over his face as a mask, and demanded that the victim turn over his car keys. Once the victim surrendered his keys, the carjacker drove off in the BMW and the driver of the Mercedes followed, authorities stated.

“While fortunately we have not had anyone shot or murdered during a carjacking in this case, we’ve seen in other cases how quickly things can turn deadly when carjackers carry out the type of armed ambush this ring committed. We’ve completely dismantled this dangerous network and charged its members with first-degree crimes,” Hoffman said in a statement.

Members of the ring worked in teams, and scouted golf courses, high-end restaurants, malls, and residential neighborhoods to find the specific luxury vehicles they wanted, Hoffman said.

The ring often sought after various models of Land Rover, Mercedez Benz, Maserati, Porsche, Jaguar, and Bentley vehicles, authorities said.

Of the 90 that were recovered, 23 were found at ports the ring used, including Port Newark, Port Elizabeth, Global Terminal in Bayonne, and the Howland Hook Seaport in Staten Island, New York.

After they were stolen, the crew would ”cool off” or keep the vehicles at various locations, including short-term airport parking garages, residential parking complexes, backyards, commercial warehouses, warehouses, and even shipping containers, authorities said.

Once “cooled,” a vehicle was moved to a “fence,” or someone who would buy it from the theft crew, or a high-ranking fence within the organization, who would then sell the vehicle to a buyer, Hoffman said.

The fences used “wheel men” to move the stolen vehicles to different locations while purchase prices were being negotiated. “Shippers” allegedly arranged for the stolen vehicles to be placed on shipping containers and transported to different New York and New Jersey seaports. They created a bill of landing and lied about what were in the containers. The containers were often loaded at Evans Terminal in Hillside and various locations in Bronx, New York.

The ring made sure the vehicles did not have tracking devices on them and removed such devices from the ones that did.

The following people were charged in the investigation:

• Leaders: Tyja Evans, 39, of Watchung; Ibn Jones, 37, of Newark; and Eddie Craig, 36, of Beverly
• Shippers and high-level “fences”: Peter Cleland, 32, of East Orange; Sowah Anan, 31, of Elizabeth; Manuel Oliveres, 44, of Jersey City; Adama Fofana, 53, of Bronx, New York; and Alpha Jalloh, 26, of New York, New York
• Panel Dalce, 43 of South Orange, a higher-level “fence” and retagger
• Street-level “fences”: Frazier Gibson, 29 of East Orange and three Newark residents: Eric Aikens, 40, Lavell Burnett, 38; and Damion Mikell, 32
• Carjackers, car thieves, and/or “wheel men”: Nasir Turner, 36; Derrick Moore, 36; Kenneth Daniels, 29; Tyree Johnson, 22; Donnel Carroll, 28; Khalil Culbreath, 38; Terrence Wilson, 39; and Marquis Price, 32.

All of the carjackers are Newark residents, except Moore, who lives in Keansburg, authorities stated.

Authorities are still seeking Daniels, Carroll, and Culbreath, Hoffman said.

File photo of a 2014 BMW 650i via HappyRider2011/YouTube