Catalytic converter thefts peak as police call for regulation

Catalytic converter thefts across the Lower Mainland reached 2,154 in 2020 – and the vehicle-related crime is showing no signs of abating in the first three months of this year.

The theft of the exhaust emission devices has led to thousands of deductible insurance claims generated from vehicle owners, with the Insurance Corporation of B.C. reporting losses in excess of $1 million last year.

The persistent crime has triggered the Vancouver Police Board to call on the B.C. government to amend the Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act to put the onus on scrap dealers to collect identification from sellers.

Currently, there is no requirement for a scrap dealer — where converters are typically sold for up to $200 each for the precious metals inside them — to report a transaction.

“This makes Vancouver Police Department investigations more challenging because suspected offenders leave the city of Vancouver with the stolen converter,” said a report attached to a police board resolution forwarded last month to the B.C. Association of Police Boards.

“Identification is not required to sell catalytic converters, which complicates suspect identification.”

Vancouver police investigated 203 reports of converter thefts in 2020 and said 71 thefts occurred between Jan. 1 and March 6 of this year; for the same period in 2020, vehicle owners filed 33 reports.

Police say a converter, which converts pollutants into less harmful emissions before they leave a vehicle’s exhaust system, can be stolen in seconds with a blow torch or grinder.

Thieves often target vehicles higher up from the ground such as minivans and SUVs to allow easier access to the underside of a vehicle.

In the Vancouver thefts this year, Hondas accounted for 37 per cent of the targeted vehicles followed by Fords (26 per cent) and Toyotas (seven per cent), according to a VPD news release issued Thursday.

Officers say thieves are after the platinum, rhodium and palladium in the converters.

Using U.S. figures, palladium increased from about $200 an ounce 12 years ago to nearly $2,300 today. Rhodium saw gains from $1,100 an ounce in early 2009 to more than $26,000.

The Vancouver police board report said there is a metal recycle dealer in the Lower Mainland who is believed to be instructing individuals to bring him catalytic converters.

The crime has parallels to the theft of copper wire from municipal property and telephone systems that reached a peak about 10 years ago.

In 2011, the B.C. government approved Canada’s first provincial metal theft law — the Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act — which is what police want amended to include catalytic converters as a regulated item.

Someone trying to sell metals such as copper now must present personal identification to a scrap dealer, who in turn has to share purchase details daily with police.

Purchasers who fail to register with the Province and fulfil record-keeping and sharing requirements risk fines of up to $100,000, as well as up to six months' imprisonment.