Signal jammers: beyond vehicle theft
In an attempted truck theft in Quilicura, the jammer was not only meant to prevent GPS tracking. It also affected the communications of those responding.
On Monday, March 24, an attempted truck theft in Quilicura, in the Santiago metropolitan area, ended in a shootout and a crash into a RED public transit bus, as reported by Meganoticias and Emol. Two criminals threatened the driver and co-driver of a truck to take the vehicle, setting off a police chase along the Vespucio Norte highway.
During the incident, the criminals used a signal jammer, apparently to prevent the truck from being tracked by GPS. But the effect went further: according to reports, it also affected the communications of security personnel, hampered the coordination of the response and created a high-risk scenario for everyone involved.
In the end, both were arrested, one of them a minor, after trying to flee following the crash with the bus. The incident shows how the technology criminals use is no longer aimed only at avoiding being located, but also at disrupting the response to the crime.