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Published Wednesday, February 19,
2020
Prisoners continuing using cell phones in jails By the A.M. Costa Rica staff From January to Feb. 18, the police have confiscated 355 cell phones inside jail cells in the country. According to the police report, in January alone 225 cell phones were found, while so far in February 130 cell phones have already been found inside the prisoner's cells. However, police said that reports of scams made by prisoners from jails using cell phones have declined since 2018. In 2018, 3,145 cell phones were seized. In 2019, 2,946 cell phones were seized. "Since 2018 we have begun to incorporate technology such as scanners and video surveillance," said Nils Ching, deputy director of the police. The most recent confiscation of cell phones inside the cells happened last Thursday and Friday when the police found 27 cell phones, in Jorge Arturo Montero, the so-called La Reforma in Alajuela. "In addition, the agents confiscated handmade weapons," said the police. According to police statistics, from 2015 to 2019, 15,341 cell phones have been confiscated in prisons.. The police ask people to avoid being scammed with calls from crooks. "The best way to avoid a scam is to never give by phone, bank account data or access codes to computer equipment," said the police. Currently, cell phone providers companies are in the process of blocking the cellular signal in the prisons.  In August 2019, a video was filmed showing several prisoners making calls, posing as bank officials to defraud to other people. In the video, a group of prisoners who were jailed in San Rafael in the Province of Alajuela use cell phones to call people and scam them. According to the ministry, the video that is circulating on social networks is not recent. The Penitentiary Police said they have already identified all the people who appear in the video as well as the person who made the recording. Those prisoners are serving time for convictions such as homicide, theft, rape, and sale of drugs. "Because some of them were transferred to other prisons, the authorities estimate that the video was filmed months ago," said the ministry in its statement. The video that shows several prisoners making calls to third parties can be seen on the Facebook page of Programa Horizontes. ------------------------------ Have you heard of people scammed because of a fake call made from prisons? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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