Mexicans being injected with satellite tracking devices
Published Date:
22 August 2008
RICH Mexicans who are living under the fear of being kidnapped are spending thousands of dollars having tiny transmitters implamted under their skin so satellites can help find them.
Statistics show that kidnapping figures have jumped 40% in recent years with Mexico ranking alongside Iraq and Colombia as the worst countries for abductions.
Now more Mexicans are looking into having the chips - designed by a Mexican security firm - fitted and a spokesman for the firm said it already has more than 2,000 clients.
The company injects the crystal-encased chip, the size and shape of a grain of rice, into clients' bodies with a syringe. A transmitter in the chip sends radio signals to a larger device carried by the client with a global positioning system in it. A satellite can then pinpoint the location of a person in distress.
The chips cost $4,000 plus an annual fee of $2,200.
Official statistics show 751 kidnappings in Mexico last year, but an independent research institute says the number could have exceeded 7,000.
Most people get the chips injected into their arms, where they cannot be seen and, if they fear they are being kidnapped, press a panic button on an external device to alert Xega, which calls the police.
The full article contains 219 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
-
Last Updated:
22 August 2008 10:42 AM
-
Source:
n/a
-
Location:
Burnley
