Thieves are on a rampage around the country stealing catalytic converters.
Since late May, there has been a spate of thefts of the essential exhaust part. The crooks, which the police believe to be operating as a gang are cutting the devices off vehicle around the country.
When speaking to the Oxford Mail, PC Marstin of the West Oxfordshire Auto crime team said:
“Having 23 Stolen in the past seven weeks is a massive percentage increase in terms of catalytic converter thefts. Someone has the idea and is maximising the opportunity.”
The Police believe the devices are being exported and sold for the valuable material contained within them.
What are Catalytic Converters?
Catalytic converters are essentially in simple terms a box in your exhaust system. Their purpose is to reduce the the toxicity of emissions from you engine. Inside the ‘box is an environment in which chemical reactions take place. The result of these reactions is that substances from your engine are converted in to much less toxic substances. Their job essentially is to make the air a little bit cleaner. They quite valuable because they contain materials like Platinum.
brief history:
Catalytic converters have been in use since 1975 where they were fitted to American automobiles in the U.S. market. They are also used on other types of engines including, trucks, buses, trains and generator sets.