More than $1M stolen catalytic converts seized in Houston raid, 6 arrested

[DFW]

9. These theft rings always prey on people who can least afford to be the victims

The Cadillacs in the gated communities aren’t worth the risk. The Fords and Chevies in the working class neighborhoods are. Theft rings are big business with structure and hierarchy. This is not some poverty-stricken guy stealing a can of soup to feed himself. These are well-organized, heartless enterprises with a profit motive, a solid business structure, and the heartlessness of a private health insurance conglomerate. The only way to stop them is to make the potential risks outweigh the potential profits. The suggestion of a 25 year prison sentence is probably both drastic and effective. Not many 20 year old car thieves want to risk being locked up until they are 45, no matter how much per catalytic converter their bosses pay them. The 25 year hiatus in their social lives might be a price too high to pay for most of them.

In Europe we have the same problem, made worse by close-by borders with countries who don’t care about theft rings operating in “other” countries. For over 30 years, the Germans have had the expression, “heute gestohlen, morgen in Polen.” Stolen today, in Poland tomorrow. In the meantime, there are now just as many chop shops near the Czech border as there are on both sides of the Polish border.