Palladium mining -- from catalytic converters -- thieves at work with saws

There was a time when thieves targeted vehicle radios so much that car owners would put "No radio" signs in their windows avoid getting a broken window.

Later, thieves trended toward other items, like tires, pickup truck tailgates, and seats. Seats? Apparently, there was a ready market for them. Vehicle theft victims might receive a call from the local police, "We located your car, and you can pick it up at the impound lot. Bring something to sit on."

Now it's catalytic converters sawed out from under a vehicle. With the price of palladium so high it must be worth the risk. See Thieves Mine Catalytic Converters for Metal More Valuable Than Gold. Alternate link. Here's an excerpt:

Police in Chicago say perpetrators, who harvest the devices and sell the scrap metal, have converter theft down to a fine art.

“What tends to happen is that in the middle of the night, a group of guys come by with a truck and a reciprocating saw. They cut out the converter, throw it in the truck and drive away,” said Howard Ludwig, public information officer at the Chicago Police Department.

“They’ll tend to hit several blocks in the same evening with at least one guy driving the [getaway] vehicle and one underneath the car.”

Catalytic converters sit in the undercarriage of a car between the engine and the tailpipe, capturing toxic gases and particles. They use metals such as palladium, rhodium and platinum to transform the pollutants into less harmful types of exhaust.

“We’ve had three different sets of parking lots hit, and they usually get four or five vehicles each time,” said police Lt. Chuck Nagle in Vestavia Hills, Ala., a small city outside of Birmingham.

“They’re usually taking them out of state and getting anywhere from $150 to $200 at a clip….they’re not selling the part. They’re selling the metal,” Lt. Nagle added.

We can thank environmental regulations for making victims out of ordinary car owners.

------

2:29 PM 2/12/2019

Comments

[John Browning]

Really? You think environmental regulations are to blame? You probably think guns kill people and pencils misspell words, too.