Seven men were arrested this morning in western Massachusetts and charged with being members of a crew responsible for stealing catalytic converters from more than 470 vehicles, causing $2,000,000 in losses for vehicle owners.

“Today, ‘Operation Cut and Run’ culminated with the arrests of seven individuals from western Massachusetts who are accused of conspiring with each other to steal, sell and transport hundreds of catalytic converters across state lines that once belonged to unsuspecting drivers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire,” said Joe Bonavolonta, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston field office, at a press conference in the federal court in Boston Wednesday morning.

Those arrested this morning include Rafael “Robbin Hood” Davila, 35, of Feeding Hills, who authorities at the press conference identified as the leader of the operation; Zachary Marshall, 26, of Holyoke; and Springfield residents Jose “Goldy” Torres, who also goes by “Goldy Tech,” 37; Nicolas Davila, 25; Jose “Charlito” Fonseca, 26; Santo Feliberty, 34; and Alexander “Dirty” Oyola, 37.

“We believe these alleged thieves ribbed catalytic converters out of hundreds of vehicles, under the cloak of darkness, in under 60 seconds, leaving virtually no community untouched,” Bonavolonta said.

Catalytic converters are those wide, flattened columns attached to the vehicle’s exhaust pipe that use precious metals — many with an ounce-by-ounce price higher than gold — in the core to reduce the emissions produced by the combustion engine.

This is a developing story.