Commodity boom has a dark side
By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 2/7/2007 4:47:00 PM
Prices of precious metals are riding near peaks, causing catalytic converters to fall prey increasingly to enterprising thieves who have been swiping copper and brass for some months now. DowJones.com says that the automotive pollution-control devices have small amounts of platinum, rhodium and palladium inside them, making them an appealing target for thieves who know their way around under the hood. Thieves brazenly removed catalytic converters in a busy hospital parking lot in broad daylight in Bangor, Maine, according to various wire service reports. Police also have fielded reports of thefts recently in Alabama, California, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee. Prices paid by scrap yards for one of the devices have generally risen from $5 to $30 a decade ago to $100 nowadays. Some models can fetch up to $150.
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