Thefts of cell phones, on the rise in Mexico City

Jasmine, a young economist, got her cell phone stolen twice in the last five years. The first time someone riding a bicycle passed by her and snatched her phone, while the second time she got her iPhone 4s stolen in public transport. At that time it cost between 11,000 and 15,000 pesos (US$666.6 and US$909).

Authorities didn't help her, so she had to get a new phone and continued to pay for a phone that was in somebody else's hands.

Between 2012 and September 2015, 11 phones were stolen in Mexico City every day. More than 14,000 phones have been stolen in the last three and a half years, according to statistics provided by Mexico City Attorney General's Office (PGJDF).

Cell phones can be easily resold, which makes them attractive for criminals.

"The average cost of a cell phone is not less than 2,000 pesos (US$121) and it can be resold on the black market for 1,000 pesos (US$60)," said Luis Wertman, chairman of Mexico City's Citizen Council.

Also, the latest National Survey of Victimization and Public Safety Perception (Envipe for its Spanish acronym) published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), showed that in 42% of the 9 million street thefts committed in 2014, the cell phone was one of the stolen objects.

Moreover, since 2013 newspapers have published 20 cases in which people died or were injured while offering resistance to being robbed, seven of them in 2015.

In 80% of cases the victim was shot with a firearm or stabbed. All of them were men with an average age of 25.

According to the newspaper articles, half of the cases happened in Tlalpan, Gustavo A. Madero and Venustiano Carranza districts.