Posted on 02/07/2009 7:53:00 AM PST by AuntB
Mexicans who can afford it go to great lengths to protect themselves from criminals.
Inside of 10 seconds, the microchip -- no bigger than a grain of rice -- can be injected under the skin.
From that moment on, workers in a high-tech monitoring room in Queretaro, Mexico track the recipient's movements.
No names are on the screens, just numbers. And for that service, the recipient pays roughly $5,000 a year to feel safe while living in a country wracked by violence.
Mexico's widespread drug-related crimes and soaring kidnapping rate have severely eroded citizens' trust in the government's capacity to deal with the country's growing violence.
The country is currently classified by international groups as the riskiest Latin American country for kidnappings. Things have gotten so bad that some are asking Mexican lawmakers to consider reinstating the death penalty.
In an effort to keep safe, many citizens who can afford it have invested an estimated $18 billion in private security measures, including the microchip, according to a 2008 report from the Center for Economic Studies.
Inserting the chip under the skin shows how far many middle-class Mexicans are willing to go to ensure their safety, said Francisco González, a sales manager for Xega, the only high-tech security company in the country that sells satellite-tracking microchips for humans.
Xega's VIP satellite tracking microchip is just one security method. There are others. Consider:
• Some are taking out loans to buy or lease armored vehicles.
• Some are investing in bodyguards-for-hire to go to the ATM, or run weekend errands.
• Watchdog groups such as Mexico United Against Crime have grown substantially.
''Mexico has changed,'' said María Elena Morera de Galindo, president of the watchdog group. ``The lifestyle of Mexicans has changed.''
She joined in 2001, after her husband was kidnapped and his captors mutilated four fingers.
Some 3,000 people use the chip device nationwide, and the number is rapidly growing.
''[The device] has become very popular,'' said González. ``Our number of clients is increasing.''
The VIP device operates like a GPS receiver in a car. The client presses a button on a watch, a cellular phone or key chain with a matching chip, which activates an alarm warning elite forces working with Xega when a client feels threatened. González, the sales manager, uses the satellite tracking device himself.
The kidnapping trend is so prevalent in Mexico that people know kidnappers believe they can collect between $15,000 and $22,400 within a week.
In one of the worst cases reported in Mexico City, a 5-year-old boy from a poor family also from Iztapalapa was kidnapped from a flea market. The boy's kidnappers requested the equivalent of about $22,400 in ransom, but killed the child by injecting acid into his heart before any money could be exchanged. They feared getting caught.
''We are not living in fear, these are days of terror,'' said González. ``People today feel more at risk, and they want to protect their families, their children.''.
STAB-PROOF JACKETS
Miguel Caballero, the Colombian producer of ''designer bulletproof fashion,'' has such high-profile clients as King Abdullah of Jordan, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and actor Stephen Segal, among others.
In 2007, his company, which operates in 16 countries, including Mexico, made $9 million.
In the first seven months of 2008, he matched that figure.
Caballero said sales are so strong among middle class clients that he has not ruled out selling his new collection to Mexican department stores.
The protective wardrobe includes jackets with stab-proof linings, and protection from .38-caliber bullets. He also offers a polo shirt priced at $7,500 that is supposed to deflect 9 mm bullets.
''It's not about bulletproofing with style anymore,'' Caballero said at his Polanco boutique. ``Bulletproofing is becoming a style.''
ARMOR FOR CARS
Also scattered across the country are armored vehicle body shops.
In 2008, the country had an estimated 1,700 to 1,800 new armored cars, said Ernesto Mizrahi Haiat, president of one of five armored vehicle companies.
''Everyday, more and more people want to armor their vehicles,'' said Pedro Lara Cruz, a mechanic at a Mexico City body shop. ''We receive an average of three vehicles a day with requests to adapt them for Level 3 protection'' -- bulletproofing against light weapons, such as a .44 magnum gun. The cost is about $35,000.
Other orders include pepper gas sprays for the rearview mirrors, heavy-duty Level 5 protection against AR-15 assault rifles, bulletproof crystals for windows, special sirens with police speakers, or bulletproofed tires so that vehicles can continue to drive even after being hit with bullets. Many clients opt for the Level 5 armored vehicle, which costs $85,000.
CALL TO REGULATE
With the protection business booming in the face of rising crime, those providing the service are lobbying lawmakers for more regulation.
''The government realized the importance of regulating the industry when they faced criminals that were highly protected,'' said Mauricio Natale, president of the Mexican Association of Armor Vehicles. ``Somebody is obviously selling them the equipment and that's what [the government] needs to tackle.''
Professional bodyguards also are seeking tougher regulations and certifications.
Julio César García, president of the Mexican Society of Bodyguards, said authorities must take bodyguard training seriously and pass new laws making certification mandatory, which includes a criminal background check. García, who charges $50 per hour, keeps a busy schedule, especially on weekends with requests to escort clients to do errands or to pick up teens at clubs and parties.
''It's our busiest time,'' he said.
Poor America.
So far from God and so close to Mexico.
Can we implant chips in illegals and follow them back to their compadres.
Don’t see how the microchip makes them safer, but is probably a good body location device.
“Poor America.
So far from God and so close to Mexico.”
Oh, my. Too true, Ben, too true.
What a wonderful find of a story. I am sure everyone in South Texas with the means to do so will be following the Mexican example quite soon. Where I live, in Virginia, a large percent of the Hummers are driven by DC drug dealers. I am gathering license plate numbers to give to the police. The reason most of the high-profile people in Mexico, entertainers, politicians, etc., have established residency in Miami is that there have been so many horrifying kidnapping stories in Mexico. One actress was the victim of a kidnapping with her children and was so frightened she had a heart attack and died in their hands.
She was in her early 30s.
Poor El Paso. So close to Juarez.http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_11641299?source=most_viewed
It’s a damn shame that law abiding Mexican citizens are not allowed to possess arms so they could fight back.
They are sitting ducks.
LOL!
The Holder confirmation vote shows that there is no chance of stopping any of it in Congress.
The criminals are going to obey the regulations, when they can just as easily shoot the regulators? I kind of doubt it.
I can say without reservation that the one country on this planet that I despise above all others is Mexico. It has never produced anything of benefit to mankind; it exports the very worst of its culture and society so that other countries must suffer accordingly; its concept of high art is a floor show involving a floozy and a farm animal; its water is undrinkable and its food inedible; its women are, by and large, wider than they are tall and sport facial hair; its idea of adult drink is a poisonous concoction that has an insect swimming in it; its national pastime is cheering wildly as a swish, clad in brocaded tights, spears and stabs and eventually mutilates (with the aid and assistance of other reprobates) a barn animal that was too docile to perform in the floor show alluded to above. But, I could go on and on. But other descripions of other abominations would be too much, even for jaded constitutions.
“Law abiding Mexicans are pretty much disarmed. This is the result.”
Mexico needs the second amendment!
Yep.
These gangs make up the majority of our criminals and as our country becomes less safe because of them, what does our gov't want to do? You guessed it; Take away our guns.
However, weakened by Decadence (known by the Orwellian misnomer "Liberalism") and having surrendered to the Democrat Party (the Party of Decadence), the American people have little resistance to the spread of violence from Mexico into the United States. Mexican thugs are well aware of this.
How exactly does this one work?!
Inside of 10 seconds, the microchip — no bigger than a grain of rice — can be injected under the skin.
Take the mark to protect your self from the beast.
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