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Dennis Laviage, owner and CEO of C&D Scrap Metal, shows the valuable platinum inside a catalytic converter Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, in Houston. C&D Scrap Metal takes more than 10 steps before taking in any catalytic converters.

A view of the inside of a catalytic converter, showing the honeycomb structure that contains the precious metals that have made the car parts a lucrative target for theft across Houston.

It's become a fear many Houstonians have when they leave a vehicle unattended: Is a thief coming to crawl underneath and saw off the catalytic converter? 

Catalytic converter thefts have soared in Houston and across the country since the pandemic started, leaving millions of car owners facing repairs that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars - and resulting in deadly confrontations that have killed drivers and police officers.

The rise in thefts was so bad that Houston City Council enacted a ban on the sale of some devices, making it a Class C misdemeanor.

The Chronicle spoke with the Houston Police Department and local scrap metal dealers to answer the most commonly asked questions about catalytic converter theft.

Catalytic converters are tubular sections of a vehicle's exhaust system, located near the muffler. Hot engine gases pass through the converter before being emitted. Most vehicles have just one, but larger cars and trucks can have up to four.

Properly functioning converters react with the most dangerous pollutants in car exhaust, turning them into less toxic chemicals. They are required by law to be installed in most vehicles to control pollution.

The answer lies inside the converters, where a honeycomb structure contains small amounts of three precious metals: platinum, palladium and rhodium.

Prices for the metals have soared during the pandemic due to supply shortages and increased global demand from car makers, said Houston Police Officer Oscar Gamez, who works in the metal thefts unit that investigates stolen converters.

"In recent years, more countries are requiring catalytic converters to reduce air pollution, so there’s a high demand and low volume of these metals," Gamez said. "The thefts have occurred more often for at least the past 5 years."

Rhodium reached a high of $27,000 per ounce in April 2021 and now trades at $18,000 per ounce, according to precious metals firm Kitco. Meanwhile, palladium currently sells for $2,100 per ounce, while platinum commands $900 per ounce.

Convenience is another reason why thieves prefer to target catalytic converters, Gamez said. Working in pairs or small groups, thieves can quickly saw off dozens of converters from rows of delivery vehicles, church vans and school buses.

Cars left alone for long periods of time at hotels and corporate fleet yards are especially at risk, Gamez said. So are park and ride centers, including Metro's Fuqua Park and Ride in southeast Houston, where thieves reportedly stole 15 catalytic converters during the day on April 12, according to ABC13.

Catalytic converters can sell for anywhere from $10 to $750 each, said Dennis Laviage, owner of C&D Scrap Metal. The wide range in price is due to the varying quality of converters sold to scrap metal dealers, including those recovered from junk cars.

Some cars have after-market converters, which are cheaper, said Laviage, while other vehicles have two, three or even four converters that can be sold for higher prices.

As with credit card skimmers and other large-scale thefts, the "cutters" who crawl under vehicles and saw off converters often get the smallest share of the illicit proceeds with the highest risk of arrest, Gamez said. Many have no prior criminal record and are recruited by those further up the value chain that police have struggled to identify.

"The more we look into it, the more we see that they’re organized," he said. "There are several layers of people involved in purchasing and selling this material."

For car owners, the price to replace a stolen converter can be many times what thieves get for them, especially if the car requires the same replacement model rather than a universal model.

Most owners will have to pay $1,000 to $3,000 to repair their car, a cost not covered by basic liability insurance, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

In Houston, data shows catalytic converter thefts have multiplied every year since 2019. That year, 375 people reported thefts to Houston police. By 2020, theft cases had quadrupled to over 1,400 stolen converters before soaring fivefold to over 7,800 reported thefts in 2021.

This year, Houston police received 1,974 reports in January and February, compared to 925 during the same two months last year. If the trend were to continue, it would add up to nearly 16,700 Houstonians having catalytic converters stolen in 2022.

Theft cases can be difficult to solve because many converters police suspect as stolen can't be matched to specific vehicles and victims, Gamez said.

Instead, local officials have resorted to ordinances and rules to make it harder to sell stolen catalytic converters. In April 2021, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner ordered metal recyclers who purchase catalytic converters to enter the year, make, model, and VIN of the source vehicle into a real-time electronic database on the same day that the converter is purchased. Local rules also limit businesses to buying only one converter per person per day.

As thefts continue to rise, the City of Houston imposed a ban on the sale of used or "cut" emissions-controlled devices within city limits. It would be a Class C misdemeanor.

But Laviage, whose scrap metal business is located in the Houston city limits, said Turner's gambit is an ineffective strategy because he thinks thieves will simply sell stolen converters elsewhere in Harris County or smuggle them to other cities and states.

"I know they're mostly not selling them in Houston," Laviage said. "Other than scrap cars, I buy very few (catalytic converters) because the amount of work that's required through the city and state, the ordinances and all the rules, it's not worth it for what we can get."

Though thieves look for any vehicles left in a vulnerable position, Gamez said Toyota Tundras are a top target for catalytic converter theft because the trucks have four large catalytic converters that command higher prices than those from most vehicles.

Four catalytic converters from a Toyota Tundra could get thieves over $1,000 at some metal recyclers, Laviage said.

Toyota Prius models from 2004 to 2009 are also targeted because their converters contain higher concentrations of precious metals to compensate for the reduced flow of hot gases from hybrid engines, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. A single catalytic converter from an older Toyota Prius can sell for $1,000 or more, the IIHS found.

Aside from Texas laws making it illegal to drive vehicles without pollution control devices installed, driving without a catalytic converter is an unpleasant experience.

Although cars will still function, drivers can tell that their vehicle's converter is missing the moment they turn on the engine from the loud noise that erupts.

Some car owners have resorted to spray painting their catalytic converters with heat-resistant neon colors or even engraving their vehicle identification number, hoping it will dissuade thieves.

Police and scrap metal dealers disagreed on whether this strategy is effective as a deterrent, but police said it could help them identify and solve cases as they review photos of resold converters uploaded by metal recyclers.

"If I was looking at a photograph of a catalytic converter and it was fluorescent pink, that would catch my attention," Gamez said. "If it was engraved with a number, we could identify the complainant."

Gamez said anything that makes thieves hesitate could work in favor of owners. But Laviage said the spray paint method has limitations once the precious metals are removed.

A growing trend among owners of larger cars and trucks is to bolt or weld on catalytic converter cages and protective shields that cover the vehicle's exhaust system.

As with spray painting, the main benefit is that it makes thieves have second thoughts about targeting a particular car, said Gamez.

For Laviage, the real solution to catalytic converter theft seems simple: arresting the thieves on the streets. "The only way they're going to stop this is going to be to catch them in the act," he said.

But confronting thieves can be deadly, even for experienced officers who work on the crime. Earlier this month, Darren Almendarez, an off-duty Harris County sheriff's deputy, died from gunshot wounds in a grocery store parking lot after fighting with two men police said were trying to steal a catalytic converter from his truck.

Days later, a New Caney police officer was injured while trying to arrest three men suspected of catalytic converter theft.

"It used to be, in the past, they’re just getting caught or running away, but now they’re arming themselves and willing to present a firearm or use firearms when confronted," Gamez said. "It’ll keep going on until there’s no more demand."

Laura Duclos and Sam Ketterer contributed to this report.

Charlie Zong is a reporter on the digital desk. A Houston native, he joined the Houston Chronicle as a summer 2021 intern. He is a senior studying philosophy, computer science and journalism at Duke University.