So why are these a target for thieves? They want what s inside. They re filled with precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium. I believe they melt them down and separate the metals and sell them because they re worth more than gold, said David Kilbourne, who runs Foreign Carriage Service in Thousand Oaks.
Capt. Eric Buschow with the Ventura County Sheriffs Office says two-three man crews are going through neighborhoods to crawl under vehicles in the middle of the night to saw off catalytic converters. They can t unbolt or detach, so the thieves have to use power tools to get it.