Man caught selling stolen catalytic converters

A 34-year-old resident of Nicosia appeared in Limassol District Court on Wednesday and was remanded for 24 hours after he was arrested in connection with an alleged attempt to sell three stolen catalytic converters.

According to the Limassol CID, police officers already had information regarding the suspect and a tip-off informed them that he would try to sell the stolen catalytic converters in Limassol on Tuesday.

The shop he visited to sell the converter was put under surveillance by police and CCTV recorded him entering the premises at 6.40pm.

At that moment, police officers appeared and carried out a search on the man, finding the three stolen catalytic converters in his possession.

The suspect was arrested for unlawful possession of property and was taken into custody, while further investigations revealed that he had visited the same shop again on March 21 and sold another seven stolen catalytic converters for a total sum of €1,865.

A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that reduces toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas. The catalyst itself is most often a mix of precious metals, mostly platinum.

Last month, a man was arrested in the Famagusta district for reportedly stealing 50 catalytic converters from a shop between October 18 and 19 2021.

In June, Paphos police carried out an operation unveiling the perpetrators of a theft of 44 catalytic converters worth a total of €5,000 from a warehouse in the town.

“The reason why we have seen a spike in the theft of catalytic converters recently is linked to the fact that they are both expensive and relatively easy to steal,” police spokesperson Christos Andreou told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday.

Andreou said most of the thefts are carried out overnight in order not to attract unwanted attention. He confirmed that the spike in the number of reported thefts affects the entire island.

“It is usually a two-man job. One person gets to work under a car, while the other one stands guard,” he said and added: “It is a relatively easy job to do, it only takes five minutes. The tools used to remove the catalytic converter from a car, however, tend to make a lot of noise, so the perpetrators need to be very quick.”