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U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Thursday that a recently busted international car theft ring could steal a vehicle in less than 60 seconds without swiping keys, smashing windows or hot wiring, instead using a specialized piece of technology to “rewrite the brain” of the car.
“There’s no drama. And they’ve got something called an Autel… that is a very simple device that literally rewrites the brain of the vehicle,” Pirro said on “Fox & Friends.”
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announces charges related to an international car theft ring during a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2026, alongside D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)
The suspects in the car ring operated in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Once they successfully hacked into a car, they allegedly disabled tracking systems, including GPS and Bluetooth, to avoid detection, Pirro said.
PIRRO WARNS CAR THEFT RING USED NEW TECH TO QUICKLY ACCESS VEHICLES: ‘GONE IN 60 SECONDS’
They then transported them to a “cooling off zone,” like a Marriott hotel in Pennsylvania or another location in D.C.’s Navy Yard, Pirro said, where license plates and VINs were swapped, before the cars were allegedly loaded onto transport carriers at ports in Savannah, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announces charges related to an international car theft ring during a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2026, alongside D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metro Police Department Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)
“These cars are then transported to Africa. And they put them on these cargo holders where they label the holder ‘Furniture’ so that it doesn’t get the scrutiny that it would normally get if it were labeled ‘Vehicles,'” said Pirro.
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Pirro on Wednesday announced a 15-count federal indictment targeting the ring, which she said uses Autels to recalibrate a vehicle’s internal computer, allowing them to program a blank key fob instead of using more traditional methods to steal cars.
Hondas are the most popular make of car to steal in the U.S., she said, adding that authorities are pursuing about 100 more vehicles in connection with the auto theft ring.
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“Bang, less than 60 seconds, the car is gone. It’s cooled off, transported and then shipped to Africa. No one is looking in the container, and they’re making a fortune,” Pirro stressed.
“These are old crimes being committed in new ways.”
Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
