Agents seize thousands of smart phones, arrest 23 in major raids

Santo Domingo.- The Justice Ministry’s high tech crimes unit and the Police high tech investigation Dept. (DICAT) on Monday conducted raids on cell-phone stores in the Capotillo and Villa Francisca barrios and on Duarte Av., where they seized thousands of mobile devices and made 23 arrests.

The raids come in the heels of a joint investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor and the Police, which for the first time deal a blow against the massive theft of smart phones, a new crime in the country.

The police said the thieves eliminate the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), a specific code recorded on mobile phones GSM that identifies the unit and transmits it to the network when connect, but which the criminals decode, by placing another one in the unit.