Don’t know if you’ll need a NYTimes acct to access this.
Thieves Nationwide Are Slithering Under Cars, Swiping Catalytic Converters
The pollution-control gadgets are full of precious metals like palladium, and prices are soaring as regulators try to tame emissions. Crooks with hacksaws have noticed.
“From about $500 an ounce five years ago, the price of palladium quintupled to hit a record of $2,875 an ounce last year, and is now hovering between $2,000 and $2,500 an ounce, above the price of gold. Rhodium prices have skyrocketed more than 3,000 percent from about $640 an ounce five years ago to a record $21,900 an ounce this year, roughly 12 times the price of gold.”
And you’re right about the Prius:
“ Toyota Prius converters also fetch a higher price because their gasoline engines aren’t in as much use, and so it can take longer for the car to burn out the precious metals.”
I got one jacked off my ram when I lived in Philly. Called the police and they basically laughed when I said I wanted a police report. Happens so often that you fill out a request for that online now in that slum city. Of course it’s not worth going through insurance so you’re just sol like most times when dealing with junkies.
I was watching a Hoovie’s garage video where he bought this totally roached out Cayenne and it turned out that the cat was hacked off by thieves. The funny part is that they did it wrong and didn’t even manage to cut off the valuable part.
Some areas have metal recycling setups that basically will deny any cats being turned in. I’m assuming that the pricing have left some folks to turn a blind eye for them dolla dolla bills yall!
This is a problem that is relatively simple to solve. You don’t go after the little guys you go after the recycling facilities. Impose the same restrictions most states have on pawn shops in terms of paperwork and IDing who sells them material. Then aggressively prosecute recycling places that you can prove bought stolen material. Career criminals or drug addict aren’t going to radically change their behavior if the threat of arrest exists. The people higher up the food chain are the ones who don’t want to spend time in jail and who likely have assets that they would prefer the government not take in a criminal prosecution.
It’s probably a matter of enforcement when it comes down to it. What good are new laws if the people who are supposed to enforce them can’t or won’t enforce the existing laws?
It happens almost everyday here in west side Los Angeles for the past year. People are afraid of parking their cars outside and many opt to have steel cages installed for $$$$. Guess where this crime sits in the priority list of LAPD…
My neighbor got hers stolen last night. She has a Prius. While asleep they heard some noise, looked out the window and yelled at them. 5 - 6 guys ran off with it.