September 15, 2004
Phones in prisons a widespread problem in Mexico
Yet another article on cell phones creating havoc in prison. This time in Mexico.
"Smaller and smaller Nokias, Motorolas and Sony Ericssons are circulating in the big house, along with drugs and weapons that slip by overwhelmed or corrupt prison guards, reports the Monterey Herald.
"Homesick inmates aren't just calling home. They are coordinating armed robberies, drug deals and kidnappings, authorities say.
In response to the proliferation of illegal prison mobiles, Mexico City authorities are cobbling together $1 million to buy cellular "jammers" to cut off the clandestine conversations in the capital's four biggest reclusorios.
But prison officials may face a legal fight of their own, given the reluctance of cellular providers - in Mexico, the United States and across the globe - to countenance any disruption in service.
"There is no authority that has the right to block a signal that has been licensed, as in our case," said Patricia Ramirez Valdiva, spokeswoman for Mexico's top cellular provider, Telcel, which has 25 million clients and three-quarters of the market.
And so, Mexico City is wading into the middle of a worldwide debate at a time when personal jammers are sold on the Internet for a couple hundred dollars, Muslim nations such as Qatar are installing them in mosques, and nations from Sri Lanka to Brazil are struggling with mobile-wielding inmates.
While Mexico's prison cellphone problem is not unique, it is massive.
-- In Texas, there are about 50 ongoing prosecutions for illegal use of a cellphone in prison, some involving guards who provided them to inmates, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
-- In Mexico, about 500 cellular phones have been confiscated in recent years in this capital's prisons, including 29 earlier this month, officials said.
When search operations are carried out to confiscate mobile phones, there often are surprises. Some of the phones are high-end models with color screens, Web browsers and even digital cameras.
Authorities recently detected an organized crime gang in prison using their cellular phones in a wide-ranging extortion campaign against merchants in Mexico City's huge Central Supply market, where much of the city's food arrives each day.
The jailed criminals threatened the following, Cardenas said: "If you don't make a deposit, you and your family are going to be kidnapped or attacked."
Click here for related articles from around the world on inmates and cell phones.
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2004/09/005334.htm
