Bluetooth trackers, known for their usefulness in everyday life, are now being used in the world of organized crime.
Bluetooth trackers targeted by organized crime
The small devices we use to locate everyday objects have become a preferred tool for criminal organizations. Europol reports that Bluetooth trackers are increasingly being used, especially in the drug trade, to track smuggled cocaine.
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Originally designed to track personal items and vehicles, these trackers now allow criminals to pinpoint the location of their illegal goods.
Hide-and-seek at sea and on land
What is interesting is how these transmitters are used. Cocaine is often transported in shipping containers, hidden among everyday goods such as food. With the help of Bluetooth trackers, criminals can determine the exact arrival location of the goods at the port and then continue tracking them overland.
Criminal Innovation: Misuse of Technology
This development shows that criminal groups are often among the first to adapt new technologies for their own purposes. According to a report by Heise, Europol has documented cases in which criminals have attached these trackers unnoticed to other people's vehicles or even to migrants' means of transport. This practice represents a new dimension of criminal innovation in which modern technologies are misused.
Authorities use trackers to fight crime
But there is also a positive side. Investigative authorities are increasingly using technology to uncover criminal activities. In the United States, for example, authorities used Bluetooth trackers to track a pill press from China that was used to produce drugs. This dual use underlines the versatility and ambivalence of the technology.
Conclusion
The use of Bluetooth trackers by organized crime represents a development that shows how criminals are continually adapting new technologies to support their illegal activities. At the same time, this opens up new opportunities for law enforcement to take action against such criminal activities. This shows that technological innovations can always have two sides.
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Source: Europol , futurezone.at , heise.de
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