Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

The average vehicle owner might not know what a catalytic converter is, much less its function.

Thieves might not know either, but what they do know is that the emissions-control device contains precious metals that can be more valuable than gold.

How valuable? One metal, palladium, can go for $2,300 an ounce. Another, rhodium, is valued at a whopping $26,000 per ounce.

Although thieves have been stealing catalytic converters for years, the Edmonds Police Department is aware of an increasing number of thefts locally, and recently issued a news release pointing out that many of the thefts ha...