Catalytic converter theft is a problem in Prince George and across B.C.
But if you think the thieves are cashing on the proceeds of their crimes by selling them to local scrap dealers and recyclers, police investigations have concluded that is not the case, says Prince George RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Cooper.
“Many of our catalytic converters are taken out of province, so it’s not our metal recyclers that are the problem or that they are taking them in,” said Cooper.
“They get sent to another province or smuggled to the States, wherever they can find someone who isn’t above board who will trade them money for it. If a transient person comes in with three or four catalytic converters, chances are they will say, ‘I’m not taking that.’”
In Prince George, Cooper said there are “a few” catalytic converter thefts reported each month to police and that’s about the average for other cities of comparable sizes in the province.
The Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act requires buyers to immediately report to police if they have reason to believe an item is stolen property and failure to do is considered an offence. Failure to follow the rules outlined in the act could result in a fine of up to $50,000 and suspension of the business licence.
“There’s absolutely nothing preventing a recycler from taking a catalytic converter from someone who’s willing to turn over their identification and write everything down” said Cooper. “We’re not going to investigate where every single person got their catalytic converter from. That’s resources we don’t have.”
Catalytic converters, used to reduce noxious emissions from internal combustion engine exhaust, are coated withplatinum, palladium, and rhodium, all of which are worth more than gold.
If your catalytic converter is stolen, the cost to replace it in Canada ranges from $500 to $3,000. Cooper said it takes between five and 10 minutes for an experienced thief to use a portable power saw to cut through the two metal pipes and remove the catalytic converter on most passenger vehicles.
“It’s quick and it’s incredibly profitable,” Cooper said.
The Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act requires all scrap dealers in B.C.to register with province and requires sellers of metal to provide information about themselves by producing government-issued identification and a description of what they are selling.
Cooper said the Prince George RCMP’s Downtown Safety Unit met with four scrap metal dealers/recyclers in the city about a year-and-a-half ago and all four committed to filing a police report whenever they observe anything suspicious from a seller who wants them to buy an item that’s been brought to their business.
“They all provide us with regular reports on what they’re taking in, and that’s about as much as we can do,” said Cooper. “(The reports) are emailed daily by some and weekly by others.
“We could enforce something if we found something, but if a transient person is going to bring in a couple lengths of copper pipe, even if we ask them ‘where did you get it’ and prove where it came from, it’s not serialized. Copper theft is something that we would have to catch a person in the act of doing in order to prove they’ve stolen the copper and not just fished it out of a dumpster.
“There’s four metal recyclers in town and it doesn’t take a person very long to realize if they take a little here and a little there it’s not going to come up on anybody’s radar.”
