BOSTON (WHDH) - A crew of suspects is in custody after police busted an organized crime ring accused of nearly 500 catalytic converter thefts across Massachusetts and New Hampshire, according to law officials.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts announced the arrests on Wednesday, detailing how the seven suspects from western Mass. were responsible for an estimated $2 million worth of losses, including the theft of catalytic converters from over 470 vehicles over the past year.
The suspects charged were identified as:
- Rafael “Robin Hood” Davila, 35, of Feeding Hills, Mass.
- Jose “Goldy” Torres (also known as “Goldy Tech”) 37, of Springfield, Mass.
- Nicolas Davila, 25, of Springfield, Mass.
- Jose “Charlito” Fonseca, 26, of Springfield, Mass.
- Zachary Marshall, 26, of Holyoke, Mass.
- Santo Feliberty, 34, of Springfield, Mass.
- Alexander “Dirty” Oyola, 37, of Springfield, Mass.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the suspects face charges that range from conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce to bank theft to money laundering conspiracy.
The arrests came after federal authorities worked with Massachusetts State Police and over 70 local police departments. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins detailed the crackdown, as well as how efficiently the suspects had worked to steal the emissions devices, as seen in surveillance footage shared with news outlets.
“Like a NASCAR pit crew, these videos depict the skill and speed with which these individuals could jack up a vehicle and cut the catalytic converter out,” Rollins told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
A crucial part of a vehicle’s emissions system that reduces pollution, catalytic converters contain precious metals such as palladium, platinum and rhodium, making the devices a target for theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“Some of these precious metals are more valuable per ounce than gold and their value has been increasing in recent years, with black-market prices being more than $1,000 each,” a news release from the office stated. “Located in a vehicle’s undercarriage, the theft of a vehicle’s catalytic converter results in damage that renders the vehicle inoperable – both mechanically and legally under EPA regulations – until properly replaced.”
Citing charging documents, officials described how the arrests came after law enforcement in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire initially identified “a large number of catalytic converter thefts for which a maroon Acura was identified as having been involved.”
The incidents involved two suspects wearing dark clothing who would go after vehicles and skillfully cut away their catalytic converters “within a minute in most instances.”
Through investigating the Acura, police identified the alleged leader of the crew, Rafael Davila, who allegedly performed the thefts and other burglaries on a “full-time basis.”
“Additionally, cell phone data allegedly revealed that Rafael Davila maintained meticulous notes accounting for the locations that he and his co-conspirators had targeted and the number of catalytic converters that had been stolen, including the makes and models and when they were dropped off,” the news release detailed.
Authorities went on to identify other members of Davila’s crew, including his brother, Nicolas, Jose Fonseca, Zachary Marshall, and Santo Feliberty.
Through evidence that included surveillance footage and location monitoring data obtained from the suspects’ cell phones and Davila’s vehicle, authorities identified at least 471 vehicles that lost their converters to the crew, with the suspects hitting more than 10 vehicles in a single night multiple times.
According to data presented by the U.S. Attorney’s office, communities that suffered the most thefts included Woburn, Mass. (49 vehicles stolen from), Wilmington, Mass. (37), and Millbury, Mass. (32).
“This crew specifically targeted commercial delivery vehicles, including Isuzu, Nissan and Ford trucks and vans, along with passenger vehicles like Toyota Priuses and Corollas,” said Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston office. “Why? Because catalytic converters are easy to steal.”
The crew would allegedly sell the stolen converters to Jose Torres, according to authorities, who would “accumulate stolen catalytic converters from multiple theft crews and then in turn sell them to scrap dealers in the Northeast.”
“In particular, Torres allegedly sold stolen catalytic converters to scrap dealers who have since been charged federally for interstate transportation of stolen property and money laundering, including Alexander Kolitsas and Downpipe Depot charged in the District of Connecticut, as well as DG Auto, a New Jersey based company charged in the Eastern District of California and Northern District of Oklahoma,” the news release stated. “Torres is alleged to have transacted approximately $30,000 to $80,000 in stolen catalytic converters per week to these entities.”
Beyond the catalytic converter thefts, authorities said Rafael Davila, Santo Feliberty and Alexander Oyola allegedly attempted to steal ATMs in Massachusetts on several occasions in late 2022, using stolen trucks to rip the machines from the ground.
RELATED: Suspects wanted after attempted ATM theft in Concord
The three were also accused of committing burglaries at two New Hampshire jewelry stores in January 2023, allegedly stealing over $137,000 in the process.
All seven suspects were slated to appear in federal court in Boston Wednesday afternoon.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)