Philadelphia catalytic converter theft ring busted

Tonight, the multimillion-dollar Philadelphia crime

ring

linked to thousands of these

catalytic

converter

theft

s arrested thieves who cut valuable parts out of cars in minutes and then sold them for hundreds of dollars. Police accuse TDI Towing of purchasing tens of thousands of stolen

converter

s worth about $8.2. millions of dollars in losses the word this allows the agency to buy their

catalytic

converters without asking questions they will buy them after hours of the night and they will buy them in bulk the police say the

theft

ring

of 11 people, including a minor, bought 175 converters per week at its peak for about 300 each, towing company owner Michael Williams, accused of masterminding the operation, police say he took the converter because his company bought it and sold it for a profit in another place.

He is cooperating with this investigation candidly because we had him. Catalytic converters red-handedly filter dangerous toxins from a car's exhaust, but some of the precious metals they contain, including platinum, are very valuable. Thieves like to come in and cut the pipe here, break the bolts up there. National data shows an increase in thefts of catalytic converters in recent years, an analysis by the National Insurance Crime Bureau shows that theft claims almost quadrupled nationally between 2020 and 2022. Let's see how far arms reach out from this and I'm sure there are others doing it and This is a message to them that they will never come after you.

I can do it quickly with just one car and cut the converter in about a minute. People call me all the time and say, "Hey, would you like to buy our converters from us? We have a you know." 20 of them, could you give us some money for them last month? Massachusetts authorities shut down a seven-member catalytic converter theft ring that allegedly stole hundreds of parts worth about $2 million in losses. It is alleged that within a few weeks these seven individuals received between 40 and 80 thousand dollars for their crimes and Valerie Castro joins us now Valerie in her article, it seems that law enforcement authorities in Pennsylvania are very determined to crack down on this, but Is there any room for politicians to do something to get Ellison to introduce a bill?

Right now in the Pennsylvania legislature, the word requires places like junkyards and recycling facilities to record information like a vehicle's make and model and the VIN number or vehicle identification number to better track where that vehicle came from. catalytic converter in hopes of cracking down on everyone. From these correct steps Valerie Castro, thank you for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.