Gardaí investigating organised gangs specialising in catalytic converter thefts have searched a business in Co Meath and seized a significant amount of cash and 110 converters.
It is suspected many of the motor parts had been stolen from vehicles and were being traded on the back market.
“Gardaí seized 110 catalytic converters and large sums of cash in euro and sterling currencies during a search operation in Co Meath today,” said the Garda. “This search is part of an ongoing investigation into the theft of catalytic converters in the Dublin and surrounding areas.”
Figures obtained by The Irish Times from the force show that in 2017 just 79 catalytic converter thefts were recorded, increasing to 96 thefts in 2018. But in 2019 the crime increased exponentially in the Republic with 989 thefts recorded.
The latest data, for 2020, shows 1,014 thefts recorded in the first 9½ months of last year, or on course for 1,300 catalytic-converter thefts by year end; a 13-fold increase in just two years. Some 75 per cent of the crimes last year were recorded in Dublin.
The converters are made of a honeycomb structure designed to cleanse engine fumes as they pass through the exhaust. The metals used in the converters – platinum, palladium and rhodium – have surged in value, meaning their scrap-metal value is now high. There is also a market for converters to be used in other cars.
Each one can be sold on the black market for between €300 and €600, though in one case that reached the courts in recent years the suspect had stolen 20 converters which the court valued at €20,000.
The Garda believes thieves are carrying out surveillance on residential streets as well as public car parks, golf clubs, offices and hotels to identify cars to target.
