Jamaican Inmates Swallow SIM Cards to Evade Law Enforcement Seizures

Jamaica: Several high-profile prison inmates are reportedly swallowing their subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards in order to prevent prison and law authorities from seizing their devices.

Sources revealed the cause for this action as to protect the devices from law enforcement for forensic examination, which could reveal their contacts, conversations, and plots.

Notably, the jails are equipped with mobile network jammers but still convicts have been able to make and receive phone calls while behind bars. However, Horace Chang, the National Security Minister, asserts that law enforcement is always one step ahead of criminals, with countless plans intercepted.

A SIM card, a tiny card that is typically put into cell phones and stores user information, provides access to cellular networks, allowing the user to pinpoint their location. Smartphones, on the other hand, can keep a connection even without a physical SIM card, as long as Internet service is available.

Chang stated that regulating communication is difficult, emphasising convicts’ cleverness in eluding supervision while ensuring that law enforcement is improving its control of such efforts.

A high-ranking law enforcement official said that some detainees swallow SIM cards to dodge search and seizure attempts. According to gastroenterologist Dr Mike Mills, ingesting SIM cards has no short-term health consequences because the card passes through the digestive system unprocessed.

According to Chang, X-rays would have revealed whether chips had been eaten, demonstrating law enforcement’s dedication and desire to stay one step ahead of inmates’ tactics.

Records of conversations between Andre “Blackman” Bryan, the convicted leader of the One Don faction, and suspected members of the St. Catherine-based Klansman gang were crucial to the trial, which took place between 2021 and 2023. Of the 33 accused, 15 were found guilty of charges including murder, unlawful possession of weapons and ammunition, and membership in a criminal organisation.

The centrepiece of the case in the largest gang trial in the history of the nation and the Caribbean was statements from a witness who was also a former gang member. The witness actions were captured in taped telephone conversations among the gangsters as they plotted and discussed their endeavours, which he subsequently turned over to law enforcement.