Yahoo Autos Feds Bust Alleged Multi-Million Dollar Catalytic Converter Theft Ring
Twenty-one individuals were arrested in connection to an alleged multi-million-dollar nationwide catalytic converter theft ring, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday. They were allegedly involved in a conspiracy to sell stolen catalytic converters and the precious metals inside them to metal refineries for tens of millions of dollars.
The arrests, searches, and seizures took place in California, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia. The government says that the 21 arrested across five states were thieves themselves, dealers, and processors in the pipeline.
“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 nationwide takedown of a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft network,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “We will continue to work alongside our state and local partners to disrupt criminal conspiracies like this one that target the American people.”
Authorities say they "seized millions of dollars in assets" over the course of the investigation and have plans to seek "forfeiture of over $545 million in connection with this case."
“They made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process—on the backs of thousands of innocent car owners," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
Catalytic converter theft has been rampant this year, with thieves cutting them off of cars to sell them for the value of the precious metals inside. In New York City, officials say the number of reported catalytic converter thefts has quadrupled this year. In the Justice Department release, U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma said Tulsa has had over 2000 incidents of catalytic converter theft in the last year.
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