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mkves'hflorkRegionhavecmQuaintaxwutasoflvchidesa!wdalafinipsmdonMmemmmmmnmmmemmouflsflk BY I03 PANTAUTZI lfanmuzzxéfiyrmgxom As the price of precious metal continues to rise.“ poficeamkeepingan eyeout for thieves seeking“: capitalize on dwmarket. Themeftol'me'laLbeil f per.me or whole automotive pans. as catalytic converters. which are stripped for several ptecious elements. has been taking place In York for several yeats Thievesgoafierwhichevetmetalcanland Mammy)!ch - And. whie bandits are not currently hit- t'mg residential neighboummds. busmesses ambcamlgumbmm of the thefts. last year. News targeted :1 Markham car dealetship and cut out catalytic converters. which are designed to reduce emis- sions. [mm vehicles on the lm. Yuri Regional Police James Kennedy said. om OPS. To catfibal theft. police will often monitor mauthavebecn repeatedlyhflwiththe aim of spotting unusual ' THIEVES CASHING IN ON SCRAP In a Manrh 2008 incident in Whitchurch- pocket." he Stmtfiville.catntytic converters remowd Police say businesses should consider from ftwvehicles. police said. instflling video equipment if they are wor- m converters contain precious metals about being targeted for 'prt'Cious or including platinum. and rhodi- Wm, Global investors are putting money in pre~ dons metals because they tend to hold their value even if difi‘xrult economic times ravage stocks and bonds. The Wall Street Journal Drug addlalon and poverty we fuelling someofmemaltheft inthelegion. Del. tannedy noted. . Platinum and palladium have increased in value during the past year. Companies that compile bins u! scrap to sell [9 recyclers have. themselves, been tarâ€" thieves. Det. Kennedy said. that kind of theft often hits owners of smaller companies had because they may rely on the sale of scrap metal to make ends mam. Det. Kennedy noted. “Tim’s coming right out. of (the owner's) _ Hydm txihsiomm in York have also been broken into. wnwtimes'mpeatedly for spools ofcoppet wire. andYork poflochave hard of barbecue cylinders steel legs and construc- tion torches being stolen from job sites. DeL Kennedy said. In a March 2008 incident in Whitchurchâ€"Stoulfville, _ catalytic converters were removed from five vehicles, police said. The converters (ontain precious metals ihcluding platinum, palhzdium and rhodium. Police deal! with an example at that In March 211)!) when a Brampton man was. charged with thefl and bteak-in oflemvs after five tons of rolled copper wire was stolen from a compound in East (Bwiflimbury. The oopperwas later found in Peel Regina “When they are tweaking into compounds and stealing the Stuff. that's a pmhk'm." Um. Even York Region cemeteries haw bu‘n targeted. Police made arrests in Scpwmber 2009 after sponed two men mm a pickup using a pry-bar m mmnw brows nameplates from several headstones at a Vaughan cannery Shes in new subdivtskms m bluuflvillc have been hit by Kcnnedytaid Ultimately. while some may consider the content of the bins to be junk. the police new the taking of scrap metals to be an offence "h is a theft" Dot. said. nulng scrap metal is no longer "the garbage of old”