Surge in catalytic converter thefts alarms offcials

A surge in the theft of catalytic converters on Long Island has officials worried organized crime might be targeting Long Island driveways.

Senator Chuck Schumer announced startling numbers at a Jan. 30 event in Mineola with local officials. Schumer said catalytic converter theft has risen 385.6 percent since 2021 in Nassau County.

“This is out of control,” Schumer said. “Dangerous at the worst and maddening at the least.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman joined with Schumer in calling for federal resources to help local law enforcement.

Schumer specifically called on the Department of Justice to create a specialized team to investigate ties to organized crime and the converter thefts.

A catalytic converter, part of a vehicle’s exhaust system, contains precious metals such as rhodium, palladium, and platinum. The value of these precious metals is extremely high—as of March 2022, rhodium is valued at $20,000 per ounce; palladium at $2,938 per ounce; and platinum at $1,128 per ounce, as reported by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Theft of catalytic converters is costly to auto dealers, as well as the driving public. It can cost a dealer $2,000 to $3,000 to replace a stolen converter in order to fix damage to a vehicle’s undercarriage, fuel line, and electric lines in the process of a theft. In December, Blakeman announced the culmination of “Operation CatTrack”, a yearlong investigation with Nassau County police, U.S. Homeland Security, Nassau District Attorney, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. That investigation netted more than $4 million in cash, $3.2 million in bank accounts, and thousands of catalytic converters.

“It is becoming clear that the potential for organized crime or a theft ring is what is behind all of this,” Schumer said, “and we have to get to the bottom of who it is and where the converter cash is going.”

–Mark Nolan