The Department of Justice has arrested 21 people accused of making millions of dollars by selling stolen catalytic converters, taking down a nationwide theft ring that has plagued more than nine states over the last few years.
The arrests come after a team of law enforcement agencies conducted searches in nine different states, seizing millions of dollars in assets such as homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles, according to DOJ officials. Twenty-one people were arrested based on their alleged roles in the conspiracy in which they would steal catalytic converters from cars and sell them for their valuable metals.
MISSOURI BILL PUTS ONUS ON SCRAP METAL DEALERS TO BLUNT WAVE OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFTS
“Amidst a rise in catalytic converter thefts across the country, the Justice Department has today carried out an operation arresting 21 defendants and executing 32 search warrants in a nation-wide takedown of a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft network. We will continue to work alongside our state and local partners to disrupt criminal conspiracies like this one that target the American people,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The theft of catalytic converters has increased nationwide over the last several years as the automotive part has metals such as palladium, platinum, and rhodium that are considered extremely valuable. The price for a single catalytic converter on the black market could be marked above $1,000, according to the DOJ.
Catalytic converters are also considered to be easy to steal as they can be removed from a vehicle in less than one minute and lack unique identification features, making them difficult to trace.
“This national network of criminals hurt victims across the country. They made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process — on the backs of thousands of innocent car owners,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
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The group of defendants has been charged in two separate indictments in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma. The DOJ is seeking a total forfeiture of $545 million.
More than 14,000 catalytic converters were stolen nationwide in 2020, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau — nearly 10 times more than what was stolen in 2018. That may be due to the fact that the price of precious metals has increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic due to production strains in places such as Russia and South Africa.
