Wanderlust Ghana, the team travelling from Accra through Paris to Dubai to Cape Town on road has currently suspended their trip after two of their vehicles were reported stolen.
The team had already completed an impressive 28,811 kilometers and were in Ngassi, Congo when Congolese officials reported two of their vehicles as stolen cars after running checks on their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
The two vehicles in contention are a 2016 Lexus RX 350 and a 2018 Toyota Tacoma which were bought in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Providing update on their trip in a Facebook post on Thursday, November 28, one of the Wanderlust Ghana team member, Kwabena Peprah explained that they had conducted due diligence, including Carfax verifications which proved the cars were clean at the time before purchasing from dealers in Accra.
“In buying our current Tacoma in 2022, we first of all ran a carfax search on it and then went to customs to confirm duty payment. Both were successful and so we knew the car was safe to buy and we’ve had it for two years now.
“Saka bought his Raptor from a friend of his and he also went through the same process before taking possession.
“Franklin bought his Lexus from a car dealer in 2021 who had been given the car to sell by a bank. The bank had called in the collateral on an NPL and had to liquidate. It was already registered.
“Back at Ngassi, we completed all our paperwork and went to the police to exit. They run our VINs and announced to us that the Tacoma and Lexus were both reported as stolen in Canada. Imagine our shock.
“Within a matter of 30 minutes we’d been dispossessed of our passports and cars and we were being charged with vehicle theft,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to Kwabena Peprah, INTERPOL report says the TACOMA was reported stolen on 1st April 2022 while carfax verifies that a new owner was registered in the Canadian system on May 5, 2022.
He continued that the bill of lading covering the car, says the TACOMA was shipped out of Canada on May 7, 2022.
And GRA documents says the car was cleared on May 24, 2022.
“We saw it (TACOMA) on July 17th 2022. We performed the carfax search on July 18th 2022 and transferred the funds into the vendor’s account on same day.
“Then, according to this same Interpol, the theft was recorded in their system on February 13, 2024. With the Lexus, it was reported stolen on 8th October 2019. It was brought to Ghana and sold to someone,” he added.
The team has since handed over the vehicles to security officials in the Republic of the Congo, and investigations are underway in collaboration with authorities in Ghana and Canada.
A third vehicle, a Ford F150 Raptor, has been shipped back to Ghana from Pointe-Noir. Wanderlust Ghana has pledged full cooperation with investigations and plans to take legal action against the sellers.
“Tomorrow (Friday) morning, we will be at the police station to commence criminal proceedings against our vendors while utilizing other civil proceedings to recover our funds,” Kwabena said.
Wanderlust Ghana said it will notify all its brand partners for the expedition about the situation.
The team is willing to acquire new vehicles to complete its expedition.
“We are currently looking to purchase a new fleet of three cars to complete the current expedition and use them for planned future ones as well. If any vehicle distributor is interested in partnering with us, our doors are open,” Kwabena stated.
