A 48-year-old man who is suspected of stealing €200,000 worth of car parts was arrested late on Friday in Larnaca.

During investigations into recent thefts of catalytic converters from cars in Larnaca, police found 2,000 of them, estimated to worth about €200,000, in a storage space.

Officers arrested the 48-year-old owner of the storage unit, a permanent resident of Larnaca.

Catalytic converters are used to change harmful substances in a car’s exhaust into less harmful substances.

They have precious metals in them including platinum, palladium and rhodium, which is why they are often a target for thieves.