Phones for the taking
Published:Monday | April 14, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Corey Robinson, Staff Reporter
Confessed 'teka', Peter, has revealed that his syndicate is just one of many operating all across the island under the same mantra.
"We don't go work any and anywhere. We only do certain year-to-year parties; parties weh we can get di phone dem wey people want - Android, Galaxy. A dem a do it now. Nobody nuh want BlackBerry again," explained Peter, whose job is driven by demand from 'law-abiding' citizens fully aware of his deeds and with whom the dated BlackBerry phone no longer finds favour.
In fact, in his community, Peter is a kind of Robin Hood, providing poor neighbours with cellular phones that would prove too costly if purchased from any of the island's telecommunications providers.
"A new-brand Samsung Galaxy could cost you all $60,000. Ghetto youths don't have that kind of money, so we have to try find a cheaper way," said one of Peter's frequent customers.
Many times, customers request a particular phone and then Peter goes and steals it for them, he said.
With a grin, Peter last week listed the social events that were most lucrative for him.
"Carnival; Bachannal, when it was at Mas Camp; Boys' and Girls' Champs; Sumfest; Chug It," he said, his smile growing wider after naming each event.
His list continued and included the Quad nightclub in New Kingston and the teenager-flocked Appleton Treasure Island weekend in Negril.
"Dat's mi favourite because you know you have all three parties for the night, and you know that it's about four nights. At one party you can 'lick' all three or four phones," he said. "And that is just phones. We not talking about money. Some-times we a come home with all $70,000 to a $100,000 a night easily," he said, adding that the loot usually included foreign notes, mostly US currency.
Last night, an official associated with one of the listed events, and who did not wish to be named, stressed that pickpocketing was a problem everywhere.
Adequately preoccupied
According to the professional thief, it does not matter how securely or in which pocket victims carry their phones and valuables. All can be breached once the victim is adequately preoccupied gyrating, having a discussion, or ordering a drink.
Once phones have been disarmed, he said, they are immediately turned off to prevent them from ringing while the bandit is near his victim. Sim cards are discarded afterwards. In some cases, the stolen phones are not those for which the 'tekas' have orders, while in other cases, it would be too much of an inconvenience to throw away victims' wallets with their driver's licence and other important documents. In those instances, these items are turned over to party MCs or selectors who announce over speakers that the missing items have been found.
"That's the difference be-tween tekas and robbers," Peter said. "Robbers use force and guns. When we tek something, people have to wonder if is loss the phone loss or if dem misplace it, or what. They don't know that is you take it, so you can actually return it, and dem can't blame you."
Two years ago, stolen BlackBerry phones fetched the highest prices in the 'streets', anywhere from $15,000 upwards. Today, a customer strong on negotiation, can secure the latest BlackBerry phone for as little as $8,000 from Peter and his cronies. Samsung Galaxy and iPhones are the bigger catches. These sell for upwards of $20,000.
Peter's customers purchase the smart phones knowing that they can sometimes be tracked by the police. In many cases, they don't care, said his customer.
Blackmailed
Peter recalled two of many instances in which he blackmailed victims from whom he had stolen cellular phones.
On one occasion, he fleeced roughly $80,000 from one male victim whose cellular phone contained videos of homosexual activity, which he threatened to publish online.
On another occasion, Peter sold a memory card with explicit photographs of a popular female television personality to her ex-boyfriend, who wanted to get back at her. He made contact with the boyfriend through one of his other cronies, he revealed.
Although he said it was not his business to care what was done with the memory card after it was sold, he said he still felt "sorry that I did that".
"Mi always seh me shouldn't did sell the girl picture dem to him," he said, with a hint of guilt in his voice.