By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat
National Guard soldiers arrested three armed men in possession of several mobile signal jammers – often used in cargo and vehicle thefts – on a highway in Coahuila in early September. The men are suspected of being involved in several recent cargo thefts in the area.
After receiving a call reporting a vehicle previously seen at a prior violent cargo theft, National Guard soldiers arrived to the Libramiento Norte de La Laguna highway in Coahuila, where the soldiers spotted the reported vehicle, and ordered the occupants to step out for a search. They found a .32 caliber pistol with a small amount of ammunition, a fake pistol, two mobile signal jammers, and two intercoms.
All three men, originally from Durango state, were arrested and taken into custody, reported the National Guard press release from today. Authorities have blamed them for a spate of vehicle and cargo thefts on the Torreon region of Coahuila state, and have charged them with weapons possession and illegal use of a signal jammer.
Because of their use by criminal groups in Mexico, signal jammers been banned for production and sale since 2020. A conviction for their use could carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Use of signal jammers by organized crime in Mexico
Signal jammers are electronic devices which emit radio signals on the same frequencies as mobile phones, thus “jamming” the frequency and disabling a phone from making or receiving calls. Due to their ability to disable a victims ability to call for help, they are sometimes used by criminals in Mexico during attacks and robberies, according to a Borderland Beat investigation cargo theft from 2021.
Several signal jammers were notably by attackers during the 2021 assassination attempt on Mexico City police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch by the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.