There used to be a huge problem with people stealing railroad infrastructure and taking it into recycling centers for the cash. The way this was resolved was b

There used to be a huge problem with people stealing railroad infrastructure and taking it into recycling centers for the cash. The way this was resolved was by heavily penalizing the purchase of railroad steel. Today, you take in a sizable amount of metal to a recycling center near you, they'll make you sign a bunch of forms that guarantee you are not trading in railroad steel. If you lie on these forms, you are a felon. It seems that going after the recyclers could fix the problem here as well. If someone is taking in truckload of sawed up catalytic converters, they probably didn't source them through legal means.