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Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

justice.gov

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Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#21

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

notch656a wrote: post #9

It should be legal to run a straight-pipe if your cat gets stolen through no fault of your own. The economics incentives of the black market are there in the first place largely proximal to policy. As it stands .gov gets to light the candle from both ends, going after those failing emissions while also going after the cat thieves. Edit: Love the helpful comments though telling poor people just to move out of the city…

Move out of the city. Many rural areas don't require emissions testing, so there's no way to stop people from omitting them. Beware noise ordinances, though.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#22

Post by DJBunnies »

genmud wrote: post #19
beardog wrote: post #5

>The 21 defendants are charged in two separate indictments that were unsealed today in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma following extensive law enforcement arrest and search operations. In addition to the indictments, over 32 search warrants were executed, and law enforcement seized millions of dollars in assets, including homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles. I obvi…

I think that if you paid for your home with criminal activity you should forfeit that to repay the victims of your crimes. If your legal and illegal stuff is together, tough shit.

Civil forfeiture is lawless.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#23

Post by laverya »

genmud wrote: post #19
beardog wrote: post #5

>The 21 defendants are charged in two separate indictments that were unsealed today in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma following extensive law enforcement arrest and search operations. In addition to the indictments, over 32 search warrants were executed, and law enforcement seized millions of dollars in assets, including homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles. I obvi…

I think that if you paid for your home with criminal activity you should forfeit that to repay the victims of your crimes. If your legal and illegal stuff is together, tough shit.

Right, but they should have to prove that the home was paid for with crime, and not the other way around.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#24

Post by jupp0r »

genmud wrote: post #19
beardog wrote: post #5

>The 21 defendants are charged in two separate indictments that were unsealed today in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma following extensive law enforcement arrest and search operations. In addition to the indictments, over 32 search warrants were executed, and law enforcement seized millions of dollars in assets, including homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles. I obvi…

I think that if you paid for your home with criminal activity you should forfeit that to repay the victims of your crimes. If your legal and illegal stuff is together, tough shit.

Nobody has been convicted of criminal activity yet, that's for a court to decide.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#25

Post by 20after4 »

genmud wrote: post #19
beardog wrote: post #5

>The 21 defendants are charged in two separate indictments that were unsealed today in the Eastern District of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma following extensive law enforcement arrest and search operations. In addition to the indictments, over 32 search warrants were executed, and law enforcement seized millions of dollars in assets, including homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles. I obvi…

I think that if you paid for your home with criminal activity you should forfeit that to repay the victims of your crimes. If your legal and illegal stuff is together, tough shit.

The money won't go to repay any victims.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#26

Post by sokoloff »

aaomidi wrote: post #16
treeman79 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only thing that will help is serious prison sentences and the right to defend property with deadly force. Many areas of the country there is no consequences.

You know how if you punish a dog, it doesn't really learn and get better? Humans are like that too. Theft is heavily correlated with the economy. Arguably it's a canary in the mine - you can very usually tell what's going to happen in the macroeconomics of an area by just following crime statistics. "Deterrence" has generally been found to be a pretty well-rooted myth. Majority of theft also happens by people who _do…

If you give a dog timely and consistent corrections, it really does learn. That's literally half the battle in house-training a dog. (Yes, you try to control and arrange success and praise when the dog does the right thing, but you also correct when it does the wrong thing.)

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#27

Post by agentwiggles »

treeman79 wrote: post #6
NaturalPhallacy wrote: post #3

It's kinda fascinating to watch mining for precious metals go from digging tunnels, to extracting from other people's cars. I wonder if this will make a dent in how often it happens. My niece's was stolen in broad daylight.

Only thing that will help is serious prison sentences and the right to defend property with deadly force. Many areas of the country there is no consequences.

I'm not killing anyone for screwing with my car, and I hope most folks feel the same way. Yes, it sucks. Yes, I'd be more than pissed. But I'm not going to murder another human for a property crime.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#29

Post by oblib »

I think taking down the buyers is a the best tool we have right now for this issue.

And there are things we could do to make that easier, like putting a serial number on the converter on new cars and replacement parts. Requiring the make, model, and serial number of the car it was removed from, and a web site with a DB that has the ID number of cars they've been stolen from so buyers could check it.

Make those who buy and sell and steal them pay for it. For new car buyers all they be paying for is the addition of the serial number. Can't add much cost to engrave those during production.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#30

Post by grecy »

I feel like this is exactly like going after ivory poachers instead of the buyers at the other end.

Who is creating a market for stolen catalytic converters? Are the precious metals being extracted, melted down and sold? to who and where?

Put THOSE people in jail for the rest of their lives and change the setup so there is in incentive for anyone to even steal one in the first place.

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