Brainstorming ways to slow epidemic of catalytic converter thefts: Roadshow

Q: Concerning the new catalytic converter recycling law to help prevent cat converter theft, what prevents the recycler from just ignoring the law and continuing to buy stolen converters without doing the paperwork? … I don’t see anything in the law that stops this from happening. Am I missing something? There was already a similar law before and it did not work. …Here’s a simplistic solution. Attach a motion sensor to a truck horn under the car with an on/off switch to activate it while parked. Everyone in the world will know someone is under your vehicle. This will cost less than $100 but a converter is around $2000. …Could manufacturers take measures to make catalytic converters harder to remove? Could dealers offer anti-theft measures (including VIN etching) as an option? Do they already? It seems like measures taken at an earlier point in the process could be more effective than leaving it up to each individual. …We need tougher enforcement of these thieves.

Sung Chew, Joe Sindorf, Michael Babcock, and many more

A: Yes, we do. A national catalytic converter theft ring that generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue was taken down last month in a federal investigation.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the operation included arrests, searches and seizures in nine states: California, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.

Twenty-one defendants were charged in two indictments in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma, federal officials said.

The Justice Department-coordinated operation is the first national takedown of a catalytic converter theft ring. Federal authorities estimate that DG Auto Parts in New Jersey sold precious metal powders worth more than $545 million that it had processed from catalytic converters.