1,800 stolen catalytic converters, and four cars, were recovered during a massive bust in Baldwin Park

Investigators eventually identified a location in South Los Angeles where stolen converters were allegedly being purchased, and a storage unit location in Norwalk that was being used as a storage site. 

On Tuesday, law enforcement carried out an operation at the Norwalk location. Four people were arrested for selling and purchasing suspected stolen catalytic converters, police said.

https://abc7.com/amp/post/1800-stolen-catalytic-converters-recovered-during-theft-bust-southern-california/18834161

over a dozen school buses had their catalytic converters stolen, forcing Michigan City, Indiana to cancel classes, and send kids back to home schooling online

According to local officials, more than a third of the school district’s buses were targeted in the overnight caper.

The district was forced to cancel in-person classes for all grade levels on Tuesday, pivoting instead to remote learning. Buses were made available for elementary and pre-school students on Wednesday, while middle and high school students got another day of remote learning.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/catalytic-converter-thieves-cripple-indiana-school-bus-fleet-force-kids-online

A New Jersey junk yard owner pled guilty in Oklahoma federal court to leading a theft ring that stole catalytic converters and sold them for more than $600 million to a refinery (Dowa Metals & Mining) that extracted precious metals contained in the devices.

the catalytic converter theft ring was exposed after police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, discovered nearly 130 catalytic converters in the bed of a truck they stopped in May 2021, after an off-duty officer reported suspicions about the vehicle.

The Justice Department said that Khanna, 41, on Monday admitted to being the owner and operator of D.G. Auto Parts in New Jersey, and from May 2020 through October 2022, “he conspired with others to purchase and transport large quantities of stolen catalytic converters from Oklahoma, Texas, and other states to New Jersey.”

In a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, Khanna said, “After purchasing these catalytic converters, I resold most of them to Dowa Metals & Mining, a metal refinery, which would then extract the powdered precious metals.”

Khanna pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to receive, possess, and dispose of stolen goods in interstate commerce and five counts of money laundering

As part of his plea agreement, Khanna agreed to surrender almost $4 million in cash and 11 luxury vehicles, among them “Lamborghini, two Mercedes AMGs, two Ferraris, a McLaren, a Porsche, a Ford F650 Truck, and a BMW M3,” the Justice Department said

Authorities also seized “real estate properties, high-end jewelry, gold bars, and over 200 pallets of catalytic converters ... during the execution of search warrants at Khanna’s properties,” said the DOJ.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/22/guilty-plea-catalytic-convertor-theft-cars.html

And no doubt in my mind, the DOJ will absorb those assets, and not reimburse the people who had their catalytic converters stolen

a 14 year old in Clovis North High School in Fresno, has studied and researched Catalytic converters, and has come up with a solution to converter theft (back in 8th grade)... make the damn cats without precious metals

14-year-old Varun Masson, whose parents are from India, invented a catalytic converter that does not need precious metals to run.

He says this would help reduce carbon emissions and prevent thieves from stealing them.

He says he constantly heard about catalytic converter thefts on the news and wanted to do something about them.

"My goal is to come up with a solution that's cheaper and more efficient and hopefully just can help a lot of people," he said.

Varun says he spent six months researching solutions.

"I had to do a lot of research," he said. "It was a lot of work, a lot of building hours in our garage, just drilling holes and metals that are about as tough as titanium."

And in his research, he discovered that... "Metals like cobalt, nickel, iron, and copper can actually be used or being used actively in mining to reduce emissions," said Varun. "So I thought why not put that into cars?"

https://kmph.com/news/local/local-teens-invention-tackles-catalytic-converter-theft-enters-national-competition

this Prius owner will never need to worry about their catalytic converter getting stolen

https://www.thedrive.com/news/toyota-prius-on-la-craigslist-has-a-catalytic-converter-cage-like-a-federal-prison

a new idea that will probably be very effective in preventing catalytic converter theft from his car... a lot of razor wire

https://www.luisonte.es/post/712253952683589632/no-me-vais-a-robar-el-catalizador-cabrones

a Ford Excursion owner in Turlock, Ca fought back against catalytic converter thieves with a paintball gun

The family that owns this Ford Excursion have watched thieves try to steal its catalytic converter a grand total of seven times, which understandably had them just a bit frustrated. At least three of those times, the prospective thieves caused damage to the SUV, and this time around, a pair of men nearly got away with it – if the family hadn’t sprung into action, paintball guns blazing.

The brazen thieves crawled under the Excursion at 12:30 in the afternoon in broad daylight and began trying to remove the coveted part, but the SUV’s alarm went off, which momentarily paused their actions. However, after just a minute or so, the family realized what was happening and came out wielding paintball guns. The owners managed to land a few shots on both before they sped away in a red car that was parked nearby.

https://fordauthority.com/2022/10/ford-excursion-catalytic-converter-theft-foiled-by-paintball-guns/

that police are not preventing crime, is evident when 4 San Francisco police vehicles—two vans and two trucks—all had their catalytic converters stolen right in front of a law enforcement building early Monday morning.

https://missionlocal.org/2022/09/sfpd-catalytic-converter-theft-san-francisco-police-department/

Portland police arrested Brennan Doyle, 32 yrs old, the crime leader behind the trafficking of over 44,000 stolen catalytic converters on the West Coast for the last couple of years.

Detectives collected over 3,000 catalytic converters, hundreds of thousands in cash, jewelry, and a high-end car.

Doyle and his team of 14 people have been accused of stealing and trafficking catalytic converters from vehicles up and down the West Coast. The crime ring was headquartered in the Portland area, and expanded further throughout Oregon, as well as Washington state, California, Texas, Nevada, and New York. 

The incentive behind the crimes is the value of the metals found inside catalytic converts can be sold for thousands of dollars an ounce. Authorities believe the street value of the catalytic converters found is estimated to be at least $22 million.

https://www.powernationtv.com/post/oregon-police-bust-crime-ring-moving-22-million-in-stolen-catalytic-converters

Police raided 7 homes and arrested 6 people last week near Houston, that stole hundreds of catalytic converters worth about $1 million and attributed the damages done by the small syndicate to $11.6 million.

more than 470 catalytic converters were recovered, and 2,800 oxygen sensors, a stolen Dodge Hellcat, narcotics, and $484,000 in cash.

Two of the suspects were arrested earlier this year in Florida and charged with allegedly stealing more than 30 catalytic converters.

 Additionally, photos of some suspects have been making the rounds on Reddit and Facebook, including a photo of cash spelling out "A saw changed my life." 

According to Houston police, catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed from 375 reports in 2019 to 7,800 reported thefts in 2021. Today, Houston police say that they receive more than 30 reports of stolen catalytic converters daily.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/police-bust-catalytic-converter-thieves-they-say-caused-11-6m-in-damages

Three people have been arrested for stealing or being in possession of stolen catalytic converters in San Marcos, but one guy had 4 cat converters in a duffle bag and a car jack, in Pennsylvania, when cops caught him by a car dealership, at 4 am

 https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/3-arrested-in-san-marcos-on-suspicion-of-attempting-to-steal-catalytic-converters/

https://www.pahomepage.com/news/crime-courts/man-charged-after-police-discover-bag-of-catalytic-converters/

Just letting you know that there are some catalytic converter thieves getting jailed. This is good news