BOGOT, Colombia A flat tire is annoying, but in Bogot, the capital of Colombia, it might be even more annoying because saboteurs are usually at blame.
These vandals puncture automobile tires by spreading sharp items on busy streets while riding motorcycles. They allegedly make more holes in the tires and overcharge for repairs after offering to guide stranded drivers to local mechanics who are thought to be involved in the scam.
The Spanish term for these flimflam men is pinchallantas, which translates as “tire-puncturers.”
“They did it to me,” recalls architect Scar Villanueva of Bogot. “I was approached by a man riding a motorcycle who stated, ‘Your tire is low on air. You must have it patched. However, it was he who created the holes.
The practice has been refined by Pinchallantas.Social media videos show them swerving through traffic on motorcycles while stamping the pavement in front of automobiles to remove sharp objects fastened to their ankles.
A tire with an imbedded nail typically leaks slowly, taking hours to become flat. As a result, they frequently leave jagged, tube-shaped metal fragments on the roads, which instantly deflate tires.
Felipe Gallo, a lawyer in Bogot, claims that stressed-out drivers are easily duped into overpaying since they are typically eager for a speedy solution so they may resume driving.
Gallo recently paid around $150 for a tire repair. “When they fix the tire, they make more holes and then they say to you: ‘Hey, you have four holes,'” Gallo explains. “For that price, I could have bought new tires.”
Bogot has been plagued by pinchallantas for years. However, the number of public complaints regarding the practice has increased significantly, frequently reaching over 100 each month. TV newscasts now frequently include reports about pinchallantas, alerting drivers to potential danger places in Bogot.
Police and officials in Bogot have begun a crackdown, but it is difficult to apprehend the scammers as they puncture tires since they move quickly. Authorities are instead focusing on tire repair shops that drivers have reported for allegedly working with pinchallantas.
The store owner got into a heated argument with police officers during a recent raid and denied any involvement. Because his company permit and other documents were outdated, the police temporarily shut him down.
It may seem like a complicated technique to get rich by sabotaging drivers to fix their tires. However, Juliana S. Enz, a security official in Bogot, claims that dishonest mechanics rely on a constant flow of victims rather than a single large payout. According to her, they might fix thirty or forty flat tires per day, which might cost hundreds of dollars.
The lawyer, Gallo, notes that scammers in Colombia are constantly inventing bizarre ways to defraud people. He states: “People have a lot of imagination.”
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