Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in Brant County say a number of catalytic converters were targeted in a theft from an auto yard on Monday morning.
Investigators allege that either someone or a number of people broke into A1 Auto Recyclers at 106 Old Onondaga East and stole an unspecified number of converters from vehicles parked inside a fenced compound.
Police say the recycler reported the thefts around 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning. Detectives currently have no suspect information, but believe the units were stolen between Sunday night and Monday morning.
OPP Const. Ken Johson told Global News it’s the second time in a month a catalytic converter was stolen from a business likely between late Sunday night and Monday morning.
On Jan. 8, Brantford Motorcycle on Colborne Street West reported that a catalytic converter was cut out of a parked cube van and believed to have been taken during the overnight hours of Jan. 6.
Recently, catalytic converters have become a common target for thieves in southern Ontario. In October, Hamilton police say over 90 converters were stolen in the city since May 2019.
Dave McDonald, president of Bodyline Auto Recyclers, told Global News in October that catalytic converters have “high-value metals” that can be easily sold to scrap metal yards.
“It’s worth more than gold an ounce,” said McDonald.
“It’s palladium, rhodium … let’s put it this way, the motivation for them to do it is definitely the scrap metal and any scrap metal dealer would buy it.”
Anyone with information on the recent thefts in Brant County can reach out to OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
Tips can also be left anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online.