The Argentine Federal Police (PFA), dependent on the Ministry of National Security, dismantled an organization dedicated to the so-called “piranha thefts” of cell phones from passengers traveling on buses in the AMBA area. In 11 raids that were carried out in the last few hours in different parts of the Buenos Aires suburbs, six people were arrested: five men and one woman.
Likewise, in one of the houses searched in the 1.11.14 neighborhood of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, 932 cell phones were seized, which investigators infer are the proceeds of the crimes committed by the gang.
The investigation was initially processed in the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 4 under the charge of Dr. Vasser, although later, the case was legally consolidated with other investigations of similar characteristics, motivating the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office Correctional Facility No. 43, headed by Dr. Silvana Rusi, centralize the actions.
This investigation arose from the attack suffered by a student on May 27 of this year, who was traveling aboard a bus on line 68 when around 10 members of the gang attacked him and stole his cell phone. a fact that was recorded by the security cameras installed inside the passenger transport.
It should be noted that cell phone theft is a specific line of work of the Ministry of National Security. This was highlighted by Minister Patricia Bullrich during the last meeting of Ministers of the Interior and Security of Mercosur, where she said: “We are addressing issues that affect the daily security of our citizens, such as cell phone theft, a scourge that occurs in all countries and threatens workers, minors and also the elderly, which generates a lot of violence.”
Through the analysis carried out by the federal authorities of the images obtained from security cameras, the comparison of different data and the field tasks carried out, a highly sophisticated structure dedicated to cell phone theft was discovered. It was also determined that the criminals took the equipment to a laboratory specialized in unlocking and releasing devices, which they called “The Cave.” The so-called “Bypass Kings” operated there, a phrase that refers to the technique used to unlock stolen phones.
#Argentina
