Feds Announce Huge Catalytic Converter Theft Ring Bust

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

As if living through a pandemic and endless speculation that the United States is sliding away from democracy weren’t bad enough, some people decided that 2020 and 2021 were great times to start stealing catalytic converters at a record pace. The issue has been bad enough to make national news several times, but the Department of Justice just announced a major bust that could at least slow things down for a while.


Thieves can hack off a catalytic converter in moments and may be able to sell the component later for a decent profit, thanks to the metals used in their construction. We knew there were groups of people involved in the thefts, but the DOJ’s takedown of 21 people across five states shows that this is bigger than most of us thought.


The U.S. Attorney’s office says thousands of catalytic converters were stolen in California, Oklahoma, and elsewhere and notes that several defendants were involved in processing the parts for raw materials to be sold later. Prosecutors say that others transferred and received millions of dollars for the sale of stolen catalytic converters. 


Lawmakers and others have called for preventative measures to slow down or stop thieves altogether, including etching the car’s VIN into the components. Authorities are also starting to crack down on people and companies that knowingly purchase stolen catalytic converters. As an individual owner, the best things you can do to protect your car’s underside are to park in a well-lit area, get an anti-theft device or motion detector, or paint your catalytic converter to alert buyers that something might be off.

[Image: Dave Smith 1965/Shutterstock.com]

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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • RHD RHD on Nov 04, 2022

    These will be charged in Federal District Court. Those found guilty of violating federal law will serve very long sentences in federal prison.

    Good-on-ya to the investigators! Catalytic convertor thieves are scum, and the higher-ups can rot for all I care.

  • Zipper69 Zipper69 on Nov 04, 2022

    Manufacturers are complicit in this.

    Considering the sophistication of anti-theft gadgets built in to modern vehicles is it REALLY beyond their engineers to make the Cat "inbuilt" ? Since they are designed for the life of the vehicle make them part of the subframe that the exhaust system feeds into and out of.

    I give them my patent - no charge.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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