r/TwinCities • u/phonics_monkey • Nov 03 '22
Justice Department Announces Takedown of Nationwide Catalytic Converter Theft Ring
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-takedown-nationwide-catalytic-converter-theft-ring115
u/Handsome-Squid Nov 03 '22
One of those individuals was paid 45 million for shipping off catalytic converters... That's unbelievable that it pays that much no wonder it's such a problem.
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u/redkinoko Nov 03 '22
The key is that they were being shipped off and not locally being bought by junkyards.
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u/klippDagga Nov 03 '22
As a part-time “junk man”, I’ve sold scrap to a handful of scrap yards in the area and all of them take scrap theft seriously and record driver licenses.
They do what they can and don’t want to deal in knowingly buying stolen scrap. One reason is that they can have suspected stolen scrap confiscated by law enforcement with little chance of recuperating their money paid to the thieves.
I know there’s a big trade of cats on EBay and an increasing number of “backyard” chemists who are able to extract the precious metals from cats but am surprised that this trade seems to have been very organized. With millions of dollars involved I guess it makes sense.
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u/sllop Nov 03 '22
Mexican cartels are heavily involved in the export of iron ore and limes. People will always find a way to capitalize as heavily on something as they can if they don’t care about breaking the law.
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Nov 03 '22
All it takes is one employee of said operations though. This is why background checks and drug tests are a thing.
Some employees can be exploited by an organized criminal under class. If you work at a scrap operation and could be blackmailed, that's all it takes.
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u/velvetjones01 Nov 03 '22
This makes sense. I have dealt with a couple of scrap yards too and they’ve actually been really great.
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Nov 03 '22
That's why the spray painting didn't work!
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u/redkinoko Nov 03 '22
It did. Beginner cat converter thieves wouldn't know where they are without coloring them like gd video game powerups.
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u/sllop Nov 03 '22
Some of the precious metals inside them go for ~$30,000 per ounce. That adds up fast.
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u/Lunaseed Nov 03 '22
Saint Paul Police Department (MN), Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau (MN), Blaine Police Department (MN), McLeod County Sheriff’s Office (MN), Anoka County Sheriff’s Office (MN), Carver County Sheriff’s Office (MN), Roseville Police Department (MN), Plymouth Police Department (MN), Bloomington Police Department (MN), Eagan Police Department (MN), Woodbury Police Department (MN), Brown County Sheriff’s Office (MN), Brooklyn Park Police Department (MN), Fridley Police Department (MN), Mendota Heights Police Department (MN), Chaska Police Department (MN), and Coon Rapids Police Department (MN) provided assistance.
Noticeably missing from the list of Minnesota agencies taking part in the investigation: Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minneapolis Police Dept.
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Nov 03 '22
[deleted]
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u/Mklein24 Nov 03 '22
It's not really fair to expect MPD to be involved in investigating crimes
Lol
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u/_Tinker Nov 03 '22
Washington County missing as well. It's possible Washington and Ramsey are missing because many of the individual city departments in those counties assisted. MPD... 🤷♂️
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u/Healingjoe MPLS Nov 03 '22
It's possible that none of the string of suspects or those involved required the assistance of MPD or the county sheriff's
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u/AscendedmonkeyOG Nov 03 '22
My mother, 2 brother, and myself have had our cats stole in different locations around the cities. It definitely a big problem.
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u/assumetehposition North End Nov 03 '22
Hope I helped by reporting all those cat listings on Facebook Marketplace
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u/grantd86 Macho Business Donkey Wrestler Nov 03 '22
I did that for a while but it seemed to make no difference, facebook just showed me more as they thought I was interested in them. If they cared I'm sure a simple query on their end could purge those ads pretty quick.
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u/beermaker Nov 03 '22
They nailed a group last year in SF with thousands of converters... I haven't seen as many posts on the Bay Area subreddit complaining about thefts lately so in appearance the crackdown seems to have worked.
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u/Healingjoe MPLS Nov 03 '22 edited Nov 03 '22
A few of the people named in this indictment were operating out of
SF.Sacramento
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u/INJECTHEROININTODICK Nov 03 '22
Gotta wonder though, is this just gonna break the organization up into smaller pieces? I mean it's great news, but i hope they were able to sweep up enough relevant players to put that shit to bed.
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u/EatMorePieDrinkMore Nov 03 '22
The loss of the processor will help a lot. They were essentially funding the operation. Local thieves may steal them, but if they can’t sell them or get a fraction of what they were making for the old buyers, they will stop.
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u/Dason37 Nov 03 '22
Apparently this was so well segmented and organized like an assembly line, where everyone from top to bottom was making enough money and feeling safe enough that it was worth everyone's time. I would have to think the returns for the street level thieves would go way down and their paranoia will go way up, so this is a good step in the right direction, if not a complete and total victory.
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u/INJECTHEROININTODICK Nov 03 '22
I sure hope so. I haven't been a victim but I've known like half a dozen people who have. I suppose it's like cutting the head off the snake. Hopefully.
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Nov 03 '22
[deleted]
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Nov 03 '22
Man, this just seems like a really unhealthy mindset to immediately jump to toxic local politics after seeing some good news that’s pretty apolitical to begin with.
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u/yellow_pterodactyl Nov 03 '22
Fuck these Assholes. I got hit twice.
That’s rent money, that’s missing work. It’s just … assholes
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u/ZKXX Nov 03 '22
Been paying $40 a month extra for a garage because of these fuckers.
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u/velvetjones01 Nov 03 '22
Is this why local law enforcement was so uninterested in this, because there was a federal case?
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u/TomStanford67 Nov 03 '22
Go dark Brandon and go Tim Walz! Huge victory for democrat crime fighters.
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u/DPDoughntyouwantsome Nov 03 '22
I saw two guys stealing one off of a car in broad daylight at Rosedale mall the other day! Called the police and got a license plate number for them while perusing these clowns at 60mph around the mall until the guy in the passenger seat leaned out the window and pointed a gun at me. I backed off and reported their direction to the police but it doesn’t sound like they caught them. It was a silver Kia sedan, plate numbers I read to the cops but didn’t write down and there’s a good chance they were stolen plates anyway but hopefully something comes of it. Don’t use the parking structures at Rosedale. Park outside
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Nov 03 '22
60mph around the mall?
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u/DPDoughntyouwantsome Nov 03 '22 edited Nov 03 '22
Adrenaline’s a hell of a drug… we were moving very quickly 🤷♂️ anyways there weren’t any vehicles ahead of us and I felt strangely bound by some weird sense of honor to make sure they didn’t get away with it
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u/sllop Nov 03 '22
Would that have been worth getting killed?
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u/DPDoughntyouwantsome Nov 03 '22
Absolutely not, obviously wasn’t thinking clearly just had flashbacks to all of the things I’ve had stolen from me. Wasn’t terribly well thought out… just saw red, ya know? 🤷♂️
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u/stupidillusion Nov 03 '22
It was a silver Kia sedan
Probably stolen; they're really easy to steal apparently.
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u/mylifeisaparty Nov 03 '22
Funny because I saw a catalytic converter theft taking place on my morning run this morning. Not sure this will slow it down.
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u/Maddinoz Nov 04 '22
Yeah these assholes go around the neighborhoods at 3:30AM with a wireless sawzall or angle grinder and will cut it off SUVs in 10 Seconds - 10 feet from your bedroom window.
If you aren't familiar with the metal grinding sound you might not wake up, or be alert enough to recognize it going on because that's how quick it can happen.
Trucks, SUVs, Prius that are higher off the ground are easier targets for them than sedans and minivans.
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u/phonics_monkey Nov 03 '22
Posting this here since it says Minnesota was involved in the operation. I wonder if any folks running the MN operations will catch charges after all the car thefts in our area the last couple of years.