In recent months, several thefts of high-end, latest-generation pickup trucks have been recorded in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción. Commissioner Abelardo Costa, head of the police's Auto Dismantling Control Department, confirmed that thieves now use technologies that virtually neutralize all vehicle security devices.
Police investigations revealed that specialized gangs have managed to acquire advanced electronic devices known as signal jammers. These devices, the size of an air conditioning remote control, are capable of blocking the vehicle's locking system, cutting off the installed GPS signal, rendering security cameras inoperative, and even opening electronic gates. To start the engine, criminals often use portable computers.
Given this vulnerability of cutting-edge technology, Commissioner Costa recommends returning to an older, mechanical security device: the lock for the gear shift lever. This device, which holds the gear lever in the reverse position when the vehicle is parked, presents a physical barrier that signal jammers cannot bypass.
A recent case illustrates the modus operandi. On Monday afternoon, February 3, criminals stole a white 2018 Toyota Fortuner SRV pickup truck from the jurisdiction of the 10th Police Precinct of Asunción using this technology. However, the thieves were surprised later that same night, around 10:30 PM, while taking the vehicle to the interior of the country. After a pursuit in the Itá area, police from several precincts managed to corner the pickup truck in Julián Augusto Saldívar.
The driver, identified as Ángel Gustavo Cristaldo Martínez, 33, told police he was an employee of a car wash and was taking the vehicle for washing. At the time, the pickup truck already displayed an altered license plate, WHGP 938. Police sources state that stolen vehicles are used in large-scale robberies, sold in the interior of the country to members of drug trafficking gangs, or taken to Bolivia, where they are exchanged for shipments of cocaine.
The vehicles most targeted by thieves are those imported via Chile, from the Toyota brand, such as the IST, Allion, Premio, and Vitz models. Many are resold with false documents or dismantled for the sale of parts on the black market. For those looking to buy a used vehicle, Commissioner Costa recommends thoroughly checking the documentation, demanding the original title and the cédula verde (vehicle identification document in Paraguay) in the seller's name, and physically inspecting the engine and chassis numbers to detect possible alterations, possibly requesting assistance from a police expert.