The United States Department of Justice has indicted six individuals on several conspiracy charges in connection to running an international auto theft syndicate allegedly responsible for shipping stolen vehicles from the North American country to buyers in Ghana.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced that the suspects — namely Jacob Hernandez (29), Dustin Wetzel (23), James Young (23), Khobe David (24), Chance Clark (25), and an individual currently at large — are facing 15-count charges.

According to prosecutors, the charges against defendants are connected to their involvement in stealing at least 20 cars in the Washington metropolitan area and Pennsylvania before moving the vehicles across states for delivery to customers in the United States of America and Ghana.

“A 15-count indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia and charges six individuals in connection with their roles in a conspiracy that allegedly stole at least 20 cars in the Washington metropolitan area and Pennsylvania, transported the vehicles across state lines, and sold the vehicles to buyers in the United States and the African nation of Ghana,” the statement said. 

The attorney’s office said that the indictment came following a year-long investigation by law enforcement agencies into the activities of Washington D.C.-based crime ring which deployed technological devices that allowed the gang to reprogram cars’ security systems to accept previously blank key fobs.

Officials noted that the defendants were still under investigation relating to an additional batch of more more than 100 vehicles in the District of Columbia and over 30 vehicles in Prince George’s County, Maryland, prompting authorities to execute a search warrant at an automobile storage facility in Georgia suspected to be connected to the suspect on Tuesday.

“Law enforcement is continuing to investigate the defendants involved in this ring in relation to the theft of more than 100 vehicles in the District of Columbia and more than 30 vehicles in Prince George’s County, Maryland.  Officers also executed a search warrant yesterday at an automobile storage facility in Decatur, Georgia, which is suspected to be linked to the auto-theft ring,” the attorney’s office stated. 

Authorities also added that the syndicate majorly targeted recently manufactured Honda Civics and CRVs and Acura TLXs and RDXs, which they hide their identities by swapping plate numbers and obscuring Vehicle Identification Numbers before disconnecting GPS and Bluetooth capabilities, and then transported to storage facilities. 

All the six defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess, sell, and transport stolen motor vehicles.

The Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Criminal Investigations Unit, and the FBI Washington Field Office were in charge of investigating the case.