NEW YORK (PIX11) — New York City is cracking down on so-called ghost cars, vehicles with fake license plates that are often used to transport illegal drugs and firearms.

Ghost cars usually have false license plates from other states or false paper plates that leave no trace and have no registration in any DMV database. Now, the New York City Sheriff’s Department is spearheading an effort to rid the streets of them.

“We do our work at night to avoid confrontation with people or the general public,” one officer told NewsNation affiliate PIX11’s Ayana Harry during a ridealong that resulted in 32 vehicles being removed from the streets.

In 2022, Mayor Eric Adams, along with the New York City Sheriff’s Office and NYPD, announced that cars caught with illegal, fake, paper license plates would be towed and potentially auctioned off.