Three men accused in a multimillion-dollar car theft scheme pleaded not guilty in Bronx Criminal Court.

Arona Amadou, Mamadou Camara and Moussa Doumbia - all from the Bronx - pleaded not guilty to charges, including first-degree criminal possession of stolen property. They were held on bail and ordered to surrender their passports by a Bronx judge.

The three are among eight men from the Bronx and Manhattan charged in the operation. The Bronx District Attorney's Office worked alongside the New Jersey State attorney general and the NYPD in a nine-month investigation where they said 72 luxury vehicles totaling more than $6.5 million.

The vehicles were stolen out of driveways in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Philadelphia, mostly while people were in their homes asleep, according to detectives. They say the alleged thieves broke into the victim's homes at night and stole their key fobs and then drove the vehicles to a parking garage on Jenning Street in the Longwood section of the Bronx.

Prosecutors say the vehicles were put on display for buyers, who came to inspect the cars then paid in cash and drove off. Several of the vehicles were tracked to a port in Elizabeth where they were being packed in shipping containers to be sent overseas to West Africa.

The attorney representing Mamadou Camara, 29 says his client who is from the Ivory Coast, a new father and only speaks his native language was taken advantage of.

"Mr. Camara, an immigrant from the Ivory Coast does not speak a lick of English, We believe these things happened one without Mr. Camara being fully knowledgeable about what's going on, or two putting it in a guise of that he is just helping to move cars to make some extra money, and more importantly under his immigration status and under duress by these shadowy individuals where every they maybe," said attorney Nicholas Ramcharitar.

Five of the defendants, including Camara, are charged with racketeering related to the thefts of the cars in New Jersey. Camara and Amadou waived their rights to extradition to New Jersey.

Mohamed Kamara, 26 was arraigned on April 23 and released on his own recognizance. Three of the defendants are not yet in police custody.

The defendants are due back in court in June.