According to Cabinet sources, the Ministry of the Interior is finalizing details so that cell phone signals will be blocked soon in a part of Santiago Vazquez (formerly Comcar) prison. This technology is already being used in Libertad prison. The measure was taken in 2012 and the supplier is a Belgian company. The source added that the same company will be responsible for extending the measure to Santiago Vazquez.
In any case, the effective date of the prison remains unclear and the prison is undergoing reforms and reorganizations. The phone interfered with, among other things, preventing criminal leaders from giving orders and managing criminal organizations from their quarantine. Moving in this direction is one of the main demands of the opposition.
National Public Safety Party adviser Álvaro Garcé insists on that. At the request of the observer, Gasser stated that, as a member of the prison system parliament, he welcomed the measures taken for Libertad in 2018.
At the time, Uruguay was one of the first countries in the region to pass a resolution, which, according to Garcé, produced very good results. However, in his view, the government has “stagnated.”
“I don’t understand why, except in Libertad prison, the phone is not blocked and there is no excuse.” “The state offers advantages for crime portable jammer, it allows dangerous people to communicate with the outside world and coordinate their actions.” This issue has been raised for years and the Ministry of the Interior has not yet made a decision, Gaza added. The current prison director, Juan Miguel Petit, said the blockade against Libertado was effective.
According to him, it is clear that drug dealers and very dangerous criminals cannot own mobile phones. He said that, nonetheless, it was an issue to consider, because in some cases it might be certain that lower-risk prisoners would be in contact with relatives.