An arrest has been made as part of an ongoing investigation into the theft of catalytic converters in the Dublin area over recent months and several large seizures of stolen components have been found. A man in his 30’s was taken to Ballymun Garda Station and a file is now being prepared by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

In mid April some €500,000 worth of cats were confiscated at Dublin Port and as a follow up the man was arrested travelling on the N7 with 23 catalytic converters in his vehicle. Other searches found 135 devices in Dublin 11 valued at €23,000.

In recent weeks Gardai have seized over two thousand catalytic converters with an estimated value of €2.2 million together with 14 drums of smelted material in a raid in Finglas, where further arrests were made. Other seizures have also been made in Dublin and Meath in recent months.  

Organised gangs are targeting catalytic converter theft because the components contain small quantities of precious metals such as rhodium, palladium or platinum. Rhodium in particular has tripled in value since March 2020 and is far more valuable than gold. This means although only a few grams may be present, the thieves are prepared to jack up parked cars and remove the cats. One insurer has said that 30% of theft claims from private vehicles in the first quarter of 2021 were catalytic converter thefts, up from 20% in the last quarter of 2019. It also appears thefts are more prevalent on hybrid vehicles.

There are ways to reduce the risk of theft, although limited driver awareness of the problem means these are often not taken. The top safety measure is to park in a locked garage, although few people have this luxury. Sensible parking is therefore a good theft reduction option, for example parking in a well lit area, or against a wall or kerb to make under vehicle access more difficult. If a vehicle is left in a car park overnight, parking with the bonnet facing the wall will limit access.

Physical prevention methods include, fitting a tilt activated alarm, fitting a cage clamp to protect the device, having the device marked and fitting window stickers to denote this, or welding bolts to make them more difficult to remove. Workshop may be able to generate business by offering these kinds of theft prevention services.