Monrovia – Chris ‘Rakaza’ Peters is a well-known phone seller in the streets of Monrovia. For him, selling stolen phones is a very easy business – iit rakes fast cash.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Speaking to FrontPageAfrica on Carey Street in Monrovia, Peters said despite the economic nose dive in the country, the stolen phone trade is booming.
“When it comes to stolen phones, I have been in the business for more than 10 years now and I enjoy doing it.
“At Carey Street here, when the seller and the buyer agree on a price, the seller is taken to a shop where the phone is bought and resold as a second-hand phone,” Rakaza said.
There are no fixed prices for stolen phones. It depends on the brand and how new it appears.
“That is, does the phone have scratches and is the battery good? They would test the phone and charge it to confirm”.
“The number of people who are going into the business of buying and reselling such phones is increasing on a daily basis because the people that come to us for second-hand phones are far more than those that want to buy brand new phones, ” he said.
A buyer on Carey Street who preferred anonymity, told FrontPageAfrica in an interview – “If the phone goes for US$50 or US$100 without any problem, sometimes we sell it for US$150 or US$200 depending on the person we interact with.”
“We have over 15 persons who bring phones to transact with us.”
His statement was corroborated by Rakaza who said people usually bring stolen phones to be bought.
“The boys are many and they are everywhere. You would see them in large numbers on the streets.”
“They are the ones spoiling the image of the second-hand phone business,” he said.
He stated that another notable places where stolen phones are traded is the Waterside Market – the biggest market in Central Monrovia.
“Apart from phones, some sell laptops, Ipads and tablets that have been stolen, but they are not as many as phones.”
“Unfortunately, there is no way to identify an item that was stolen. It is only when the police comes to arrest someone for selling a stolen phone that one would know,” Rakaza said.
Caught in the middle
Phone theft has become a medium of supply for retailers of second-hand phones.
Zanabu Trawalay, a resident of Benson Street in Monrovia, recalled her experience of how she and fellow passengers unwittingly boarded a commercial taxi and fell victim to thieves popular known as “Passenger 57” who were onboard the taxi.
“I left Duala at about 8:00 PM and took a taxi to town and arrived there some minutes to 9:00PM. “
“The man sitting by the door suddenly locked it and brought out scissors. He collected the phones of everyone in the taxi which were mostly women.”
A thief’s delight
Samsung and Techno phones are some of the phones most sought-after by users of second-hand mobile devices.
“Most customers that want to buy second-hand phones ask for either Samsung or Techno. The difference in the price between a new phone and a stolen or second-hand phone is huge,” Rakaza said.
Techno C9 costs about US$150 in the stores but on Carey Street, you can get it as low as US$80.00.
Stolen phones drama
A trader on Carey Street, speaking on condition of anonymity, narrated his ordeal about getting caught in the police dragnet.
“A female customer called me to say she wanted to buy a phone. I told her to come on the bloc and when she arrived, I introduced her to one of my friends.”
She bought the phone. One Saturday, after a day, the lady called me to say the phone had a problem and she was coming to get her money.
“She said she was coming, but I didn’t know she was coming with a police officer.”
“When she arrived, I approached her then later the police came and arrested me for selling faulty phone,” he explained.
The trader said the police at Metro Police station on Center Street in Monrovia told him that if he would assist in arresting the original thief of the phone, he would be off the hook and he agreed.
Rakaza said the story is the same for many other traders in the market under the scrutiny of law enforcement agents.
He illustrated how in one instance, policemen traced a stolen phone to the seller using the BlackBerry Messenger application on the phone.
“When the lady’s phone was stolen, it was reset and resold to a new owner. Then one of her contacts sent a new invite to be re-added.”
“After the customer accepted the invite, the contact found out the phone was stolen and arranged a meeting with the customer.”
“Then policemen showed up at the meeting and seized the customer, leading to the arrest of the agent and the person who sold the phone,” Rakaza explained.
Enforcing the law
When contacted to react to the increased incidence of phone-targeted robberies, an officer at Metro Police s told FrontPageAfrica that nothing extra was needed to be put in place in addition to the already laid-down structure for combating such a crime.
“There is no difference between phones and other valuables that robbers dispossess people of. “
“We’ve been telling people that important gadgets should not be displayed where these crimes have been occurring. The arrangement we are making and the strategy we have is one that will prevent crime generally.
“When you want to cut corners and buy something from someone who does not deal in a particular property or line of business, you are on your own. So when you are arrested, the person must go in,” he said.
According to officer George Bedell, a receipt must be given for every phone bought.
“But when somebody has no genuine document and he forges another document to sell the device, the police will know,” Bedell added.