Catalytic converters stolen from parked cars in Athlone

Five catalytic converters have been stolen from parked cars in Athlone in recent days amid a big rise in this time of crime nationwide in recent times.

It comes in the same week that the Dublin Metropolitan Region Divisional Crime Task Force seized 300 catalytic converters during a search operation at a site in St Margaret's Co Dublin.

It's a type of theft that's become very prevalent countrywide in recent years as converters often contain precious metals like platinum, rhodium, and palladium, all of which are valuable, even in small quantities.

The latest local incidents happened in the Eiscir Glen estate, Dublin Road in the early hours of Tuesday (April 13) where two Toyota Prius cars were targetted between 1.30am and 2am.

Three others were stolen over Wednesday night into the early hours of Thursday morning (April 14th and 15th) in the Woodville estate, St Joseph's Villas and from outside a house along Roscommon Road. Two of the three here were Honda cars.

What happens generally is that the perpetrator/s simply cuts the catalytic converter from the exhaust pipe of a parked car and sells it onto metal or scrap dealers.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in any of these areas should contact Athlone gardaí, according to Sgt Andrew Haran, who admitted there is very little advice he can give drivers to prevent this type of crime.

It's only when motorists attempt to start their car the following morning and are met with a loud noise that most realise that something has happened to the car, and it's usually on further inspection afterward that it's discovered that the catalytic converter has been taken.

Back in January, the Irish Times reported a huge rise in catalytic converter thefts in recent years, which is a particular problem in Dublin.

Garda figures obtained by the paper laid bare how big a problem it has become in few short years; in 2017 just 79 catalytic converter thefts were recorded, increasing to 96 thefts in 2018. However, by 2019 the crime increased exponentially in the Republic with 989 thefts recorded.

The latest data, for 2020, showed 1,014 thefts recorded in the first 9½ months of last year, three-quarters of which were in the capital.