The federal government has taken into custody 21 people in five states and is demanding forfeitures totaling $545 million for catalytic converter theft.
If you were one of the people whose catalytic converter was recently stolen right beneath your car, the federal authorities may have just apprehended the perpetrators. A country-wide catalytic converter theft ring was busted, as announced by the United States Justice Department.
What is a catalytic converter? It functions as a vehicle’s exhaust system’s equivalent of an anti-pollution gadget and consists of valuable metals that may be sold for a high price.
If you’re curious to know how much money was made from the stolen parts, the FBI claimed that a circuit of thieves, dealers, and processors generated tens of millions of dollars.
21 individuals from five different states have been detained and charged in two independent indictments as a result of the operation. This operation involved law enforcement officers at the federal, state, and local levels.
Separate charges for conspiring to transport stolen catalytic converters and conspiracy to engage in money laundering, among several other similar charges, have been brought by federal grand juries in Oklahoma and California. The United States government is asking for forfeitures totaling more than $545 million.