Despite the operating constants of the authorities to seize stolen phones, the problem continues and has been mainly detected in markets such as the terminal and the guard, in zones 9 and 11 respectively, due to the complicity between vendors and criminals, according to police authorities.
A majority of the phones that are sold in the market, the guardian come from the Obelisk and nearby areas, where criminals assault pedestrians who seek transport, mainly at night, according to the complaints that those affected have made before the National Civil Police (PNC) and Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office (PDH).
The most recent operation in the guardian for seizar cell phones of strange origin was on November 26, 2024. However, days after these proceedings, the stolen devices in different areas of the capital were offered again by vendors, police investigators indicate.
“There is too much complicity, we would have to do operations every day,” says the researcher.
Operations
The director of the police institution, David Custodio Boto, acknowledges that the theft of phones continues and the main place where they are taken to sell them is the market, and in response operations are mounted in different sectors where they most report assaults on pedestrians and buses.
Although he did not have the figures at the time of the statements, Custodio Boto says that several captures of subjects that steal cell phones in different bus stops have been recorded, since it is “assailants groups” that are hidden in the Bethania, Zakerti, Amparo, Verbena and Amparo colonies, all of the capital area 7 capital.
“The main place where these groups sell stolen phones is the market,” says the police chief.
PNC investigating agents who have participated in the operations in conjunction with the Public Ministry, affirm that days after those actions in that market, where telephones are seized, sales are re -installed because there is complicity in among the criminals and vendors, since both obtain profits.
“These phones come there for the robberies that are sometimes committed to a few meters, at buse stops or on the catwalks. Sellers know perfectly where those phones that buy at low prices come from,” an agent said.
Activated
In Guatemala, the registration of the unique phone identification number (IMEI) was implemented with telephone operators, so if a device is reported as stolen, companies must block it to avoid use in mobile networks. However, this code can be altered with specialized software, allowing the telephone operating system to continue working in mobile networks without being blocked.
A police officer reiterated that if the phone cannot be reactivated, criminals usually disarm it and sell the pieces as spare parts in informal markets.
In citations with deputies, Custodio Boto proposed not only to block the apparatus chip, but also the phone, so that it does not use again.
Edgar Guerra, from the User Ombudsman for public transport, attached to the PDH, states that according to the allegations of the passengers, this year the assaults are concentrated on three journeys and the main stolen objects are phones, money, jewels and debit or credit cards.
Places where assaults occur more
- On the Liberation Boulevard, Zone 9, towards the Zone 7 clover.
Of the clover, zone 7, towards Mixco.
From the clover to the University of San Carlos, zone 12. - Petapa Avenue and Atanasio Tzul Calzada, towards Zone 21, mainly in the early morning and in the afternoon-night
Smuggling and stolen merchandise
Luis Mazariegos, coordinator of the Observatory against smuggling (OCC), of the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverage (CGAB), states that 80% of the merchandise that is offered in the market The guardian is of illicit origin, and is usually smuggled from Mexico.
“People go for food to that market, but parallel to this there are other bad merchants who have sales of clothing, cell phones and electronics,” he explained.
Mazariegos says that taking control of this type of markets is difficult because you enter a conflict with sellers and that is where criminals take the opportunity to attack against authority.
“To enter a market, the authority needs a strong movement of elements of the National Civil Police and the Army. To avoid the lifting of the sellers, many hood and take bates to threaten the authority,” he said.