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Catalytic converters were developed to help the environmental movement, but thieves have learned the pollution-control units can bring them a different kind of green on the black market.

Converters contain three precious metals — platinum, palladium and rhodium — which have skyrocketed in price recently, sparking a rash of thefts from parked cars.

Platinum currently trades at nearly $1,600 an ounce and rhodium trades at $2,450 an ounce, said Kenny Anderson, owner of Anderson’s Sales and Salvage in Greeley.

Aurora police report 17 thefts of converters recently, and Thornton had six cases just last week. All six Thornton cases involved circa 1986-2004 Toyota 4Runners or pickups.

Catalytic converters are the size of small mufflers and sit between the engine and muffler on a vehicle’s exhaust system. The metals help convert some of the nastier engine exhaust gases to stuff that isn’t so damaging. For example, carbon monoxide, which is deadly to humans, is converted to carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by trees.

A thief armed with a battery-powered hacksaw can roll under a car, particularly a four-wheel drive with high ground clearance, and cut off a converter in two minutes.

On the black market, the converters will bring anywhere from $30 to $200 cash, as is, depending on the size and make of the unit.

A converter on a 1996 Toyota is worth $60-$70, Anderson said. New Toyota Tundra trucks have four separate catalytic converters on their exhaust systems, all easily accessed from underneath.

With that kind of money available, the thieves have become brazen.

In Thornton, three trucks were hit at the park-n-Ride at 88th Avenue and Interstate 25; two were hit in parking lots at shopping centers; and one in the parking lot of the post office in the 8800 block of Washington Street, said Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes.

For the hapless owners — some of whom have lost their converters while dining in restaurants — the loss isn’t critical, just expensive.

A car can be driven after losing a converter, but it sounds like a dragster because the exhaust system has been cut in front of the mufflers.

Replacement converters can cost anywhere from $500 to more than $1,000, according to Stevinson Toyota West in Lakewood.

Anderson, whose primary business for 52 years has been shredding junk cars, warns that it is against federal law to sell a used converter as a replacement. He also refuses to buy converters from people he doesn’t know and has reported several people he suspected had stolen the converters they were trying to sell.

California recently passed a law requiring scrap dealers to record their purchases, and payment must be held for three days.

Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com