This is how the thieves who stole catalytic converters in the USA acted: $8.2 million in three years

It’s not surprising that there are more and more stories about crime rings that focus on stealing catalytic converters getting busted. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, in 2018 just under 1,300 Americans reported their car’s catalytic converter being stolen.

The number grew exponentially to 64,000 last year. But that may only be the tip of the iceberg. Carfax looked into the numbers of all catalytic converters replaced in the US and determined that “as many as 153,000″ were stripped illegally off cars in the US in 2022.

It’s big business too. An alleged theft ring run out of a Philadelphia towing business that was recently busted by law enforcement was responsible for $8.2 million in stolen catalytic converters. TDI Towing was purchasing on average 175 of them a week, paying around $300 but some fetched $1,000. Over three years, over 27,000 stolen catalytic converters passed through the towing business according to the criminal charges filed by the Buck County District Attorney.

That however, pales in comparison to another multi-state ring broken up by federal prosecutors last year that raked in over $500 million.

Why are catalytic converters so valuable?

In order to remove harmful byproducts in exhaust gases, catalytic converters or cats, a feature on all combustion engine vehicles, employ a honeycomb of rare metals inside. These include palladium, platinum and rhodium, two of which saw their value greatly increase in recent years.

While platinum has decreased in value over the past decade, it is still worth around $1,000 per ounce. Palladium and rhodium saw their values spike during the pandemic, thanks in part to supply chain bottlenecks. An ounce of the last one currently goes for around $5,000 but just a couple years ago it was worth nearly $30,000 compared to roughly $1,000 a decade ago.

The bigger the car engine, the bigger the cat, and thus more of the precious metals, so SUVs and trucks are prized. They are also juicy targets for the ease with which the catalytic converter can be reached.

How thieves steal catalytic converters in the USA

Cats are easily accessible on the underside of cars as part of the exhaust system, usually located in the middle of the car. Thieves can remove them in less than a minute, generally by using a battery-powered reciprocating saw but that can be very noisy. For that reason, thieves normally target cars that are in less crowded areas or that are poorly lit. However, they have become quite brazen even attacking dealerships.

SUVs and trucks are generally higher off the ground and have bigger engines, thus making them ideal targets for thieves. Hybrids are also sought out as they use their gas-powered engines less, meaning the cat typically is in better condition even if the car is older. Carfax produced a list of the cars most popular with catalytic converter thieves which is as follows: