Well-organised thieves are targeting car yards and busy parking lots across South East Queensland to steal catalytic converters from unsuspecting motorists.
Police are investigating the theft of more than $460,000 worth of the devices in the region in February.
Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said recently released footage of three men police believe are linked to the investigation showed how quickly a catalytic converter could be removed from a vehicle.
"They're able to get in, get under cars and take the items out from under cars, and the first you know is you start your car and it sounds like a truck," he said.
"They're targeting car yards and places cars and trucks are parked up for the night.
"They're getting in, diving underneath, cutting off what they need and they're gone.
"It's a very quick offence and has a high return for them."
Superintendent Sheldon said between 60 and 70 different offences had been committed across the Gold Coast and South Brisbane, including Ipswich and Logan, in February.
About $463,000 worth of catalytic converters were stolen.
'Like-minded individuals'
Catalytic converters reduce harmful emissions from petrol engines and contain a range of precious metals including rhodium, palladium and platinum.
Superintendent Sheldon said police had charged several people over the alleged theft of the devices, but criminal networks had realised the value of catalytic converters and how easy they were to steal.
"We have a group of like-minded individuals who are organised and working together in their criminality across a large area of the state," he said.
"As we turn over more rocks, they're scurrying away from us as far as discovering other people involved and discovering the length and breadth of the network."
He said removing a catalytic converter from a vehicle was not a task an average person could do quickly.
"These offenders are very motivated and practised at what they're doing," Superintendent Sheldon said.
"They've got specific tools to help them in their endeavour, so they're in, done and gone very quickly."
