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Frank Curia had no idea he was driving around with a virtual treasure trove of precious metals attached to the underside of his 1998 Nissan pickup - until this week when a daring thief sawed off part of his exhaust system in broad daylight.

On Monday at noon Curia parked his truck, just as he does every working day, in the lot at a wholesale company he works for in south Etobicoke.

"There were lots of people walking by, shoppers, guys getting propane for customers, so I didn't even think twice about the truck," he said. "I'm not paranoid."

But by 6 p.m. break, when he drove off-site to make a coffee run, Curia's truck was somewhat lighter - and noisier.

"It was loud as hell," he said, noting that he had driven the vehicle all morning and didn't notice anything wrong. "I pulled over and looked under the truck and saw my tail pipe had been sawed off."

As it turns out, his catalytic converter, a device used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from internal combustion engines, was gone.

According to 22 Division Det. Sgt. Bruce Lowrey, the devices contain expensive metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium - a lucrative combination for thieves.

"They're all valuable metals. Rhodium alone is worth $6,000 an ounce," he said, adding that a dozen catalytic converters would be needed to equal one ounce of the metal.

Lowrey said his office has received an increase in calls regarding such thefts in the last two or three weeks, but that only a small percentage of victims actually report the crime.

The Thruway Muffler Centre on Kipling Avenue reports three such cases last week alone, most of which came from TTC parking lots, a mechanic who wished to remain anonymous told the Guardian yesterday.

"They're actually worth a lot of money to scrap yards because of the platinum in them," he said, noting that the devices would be easy to steal. "All you'd need is a saw. Whoever is doing it would just have to crawl under the car or truck. Most people we've had in have had them stolen during the day."

Lowrey said police have alerted the TTC to the situation and have been doing their best to patrol TTC lots during the day, but there isn't much either owners or police can do to prevent such thefts.

"You have to drive, and you have to park," he said. "And short of catching these guys red-handed, there's not much we can do either."

Which is little consolation to Curia. Replacing his stolen catalytic converter is going to cost him $500.