Provincial Senator for the Renewal Front, Malena Galmarini, introduced a bill to prohibit the possession and use of mobile phones in Buenos Aires province prisons. The initiative aims to install signal jammers to curb scams, extortion, and virtual kidnappings orchestrated from prison. The bill proposes the mandatory installation of signal jammers in all penitentiary units in Buenos Aires province, along with technological controls and permanent searches to prevent the entry of mobile devices. 'The prison system cannot continue to be an office from which crimes are committed. Prisons cannot function as call centers for crime,' stated Galmarini while presenting the project. The proposal establishes that individuals deprived of their liberty will not be able to possess mobile phones or technological devices that allow unauthorized communications, although it contemplates supervised communication systems to ensure contact with family and lawyers. 'Those who are in prison must serve the sentence imposed by Justice, not continue to commit crimes from a cell,' affirmed the senator. In this sense, Galmarini emphasized that behind every scam or phone extortion there are victims who suffer anxiety, fear, and financial losses, often under threats that simulate kidnappings or situations of violence against their families. 'It is not just about technology or prison control: it is about protecting the people who receive these calls and are trapped in desperate situations. The State must be on the side of the victims,' they stated from the legislator's team. The project also provides for a maximum period of 180 days for the installation of signal jamming systems, with the aim of preventing illegal communications from prison wings. 'When crime is organized from prisons, the State must act.'
