Police in the Detroit metro area were in for a surprise Tuesday. They had intel that an employee had been sneaking parts off Ford’s Dearborn assembly line. But nothing could prepare them for what they discovered at a commercial property off West Chicago Street in Detroit: “When we executed a search warrant at one of the shops in Detroit, from the floor to the ceiling it was stacked with brand-new auto parts.” These Ford parts weren’t just a few chrome badges or radios. “Brand new hoods in boxes. Brand new taillight assembly. Headlight assemblies. Bumpers.”

That’s Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin. He told the press that on Tuesday, police executed search warrants at residences in Dearborn and Canton, as well as two separate businesses in Detroit. After the West Chicago Street location, they raided another industrial building on Greenfield and Joy. In addition, the raids led to the arrest of four adult males connected to this “large theft operation involving stolen Ford vehicle parts.” Sources describe one of these men as a former Ford employee.

Fighting the “large theft operation” reselling Ford assembly line parts on eBay

Shahin insisted, “Such criminal plots will not be tolerated in Dearborn, and we will employ all resources to bring them down.”

Dearborn Police’s investigation found parts stolen from Ford’s plants in Wayne, Dearborn, and Flat Rock. Thefts have been going on for at least two years. The third-party shop that fenced the stolen Ford parts listed them on eBay. Police described it as a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise.  

Shahin concluded: “These arrests were made possible through the diligent and sophisticated work of our investigative units and with the help and cooperation of the Ford Motor Company Global Security.”

You can see the latest coverage by Fox 2 out of Detroit in the video embedded below: