In a new spin on the term “roaming charge,” Brazilian police busted a gang trying to deliver cell phones to a top-security prison using a remote-controlled toy helicopter, media reported last week.
Four suspects were arrested outside a maximum security facility in the southern town of Presidente Venceslau in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state after the mini-chopper, 14 mobile telephones and the equivalent of US$500 in cash were found in their rented car.
They had been stopped for a routine inspection because of their proximity to the prison, which holds organized crime bosses and other dangerous inmates.
The youngest of the suspects, a 17-year-old boy, reportedly confessed to police that they had received US$5,000 to pay for the operation and would receive another US$5,000 dollars if successful. He refused to say who was to receive the telephones.
Brazil’s criminals often continue illicit activities while serving time, relying on cell phones that are smuggled inside though a variety of ingenious ways.
In the past, carrier pigeons and doctored bibles have been used.
(AFP)
媒體上週報導，「漫遊費用」一詞有了新的解釋，巴西警方破獲一個黑幫企圖利用遙控玩具直昇機，走私手機到一所高度警戒監獄。
警方在巴西聖保羅州南部文塞斯勞總統鎮一所高度警戒的監獄外，逮捕了四名嫌犯，並在他們租來的車中找到一架迷你直昇機、十四支手機，以及折合五百美元的現金。
當他們駛近這所囚禁犯罪集團首腦和其他危險囚犯的監獄時，被警方攔下做例行性檢查。
報導指出，其中最年輕的一名十七歲男性嫌犯對警方坦承，他們在行動前收了五千美元佣金，等事成之後會再收到五千美元。但他拒絕透露這些手機的收受者。
巴西的罪犯服刑時通常會繼續不法活動，而管道正是以各種不同方式精心安排走私進監獄的手機。
他們曾經使用的方式包括信鴿以及動過手腳的聖經。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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