How a flat tire scam in Colombia can lead to costly car repairs
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Getting a flat tire is frustrating, but in the Colombian capital of Bogotá, it can be even more maddening because it is frequently the work of saboteurs.
Aboard motorcycles, these vandals spread sharp objects on busy streets to damage car tires. Then, they offer to lead marooned motorists to nearby mechanics who are suspected of being in on the scam, allegedly making more holes in the tires and then overcharging for repairs.
These flimflam men are known as pinchallantas, Spanish for “tire-puncturers.”
“They did it to me,” says Óscar Villanueva a Bogotá architect. “A guy on a motorcycle came up to me and said: ‘Your tire is low on air. You need to get it patched.’ But he was the one who made the holes.”
Pinchallantas have perfected the practice. Videos on social media show them weaving through traffic on motorcycles with sharp objects attached to their ankles that they release by stomping the pavement in front of cars.
An embedded nail usually creates a slow leak in a tire that may take hours to go flat. So, they often litter the roads with sharp, tube-shaped pieces of metal that cause tires to deflate immediately.
Bogotá lawyer Felipe Gallo says that because frazzled motorists are usually anxious for a quick fix so they can get back on the road, they are easily suckered into overpaying.
“When they fix the tire, they make more holes and then they say to you: ‘Hey, you have four holes,'” says Gallo, who paid about $150 for a recent repair job. “For that price, I could have bought new tires.”
Pinchallantas have plagued Bogotá for years. But recently there has been a surge of citizen complaints about the practice, often numbering more than 100 per month. Reports about pinchallantas have become a staple of TV newscasts, which also warn motorists about trouble spots in Bogotá.
Bogotá officials and police have launched a crackdown, but because the con men move fast, it’s hard to catch them in the act of puncturing tires. Instead, authorities are targeting tire-repair shops that motorists have flagged for their suspected collaboration with pinchallantas.
During one recent raid, the shop owner got into a heated debate with police officers, and denied any wrongdoing. The police temporarily closed him down, saying his business permit and other paperwork were out of date.
Sabotaging motorists in order to patch their tires may seems like a convoluted way to strike it rich. But rather than one big payoff, Bogotá security official Juliana Sáenz says that unscrupulous mechanics count on a steady stream of victims. She says they may fix 30 or so flat tires per day, which can add up to hundreds of dollars.
Gallo, the lawyer, points out that Colombian swindlers are always coming up with outlandish ways to shake people down. He says: “People have a lot of imagination.”
Transcript:
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Con artists are always coming up with devious ways to scam people. In the Colombian city of Bogota, one infamous trick involves puncturing the tires of unsuspecting motorists. Reporter John Otis explains.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).
JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: At this tire repair shop in Bogota, police and city hall officials are grilling the manager about his business.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: They’ve targeted this shop because they’ve received complaints from drivers who say something fishy is going on. Bogota security official Carlos Garzon (ph) explains.
CARLOS GARZON: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: Tire repair shops, he says, sometimes work in cahoots with vandals aboard motorcycles who toss sharp objects onto busy streets to damage car tires.
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLANGING)
OTIS: Then they offer to guide marooned motorists back to the repair shop to get their flats fixed at exorbitant rates. These swindlers are known as pinchallantas, Spanish for tire puncturers. They’ve been around for years, but amid a surge of recent complaints, police have started cracking down on tire shops involved in the scam. Bogota lawyer Felipe Gallo says his wife was one of the latest victims.
This just happened yesterday?
FELIPE GALLO: Yeah. Somebody put something in the tire.
OTIS: Right, like some nails or something?
GALLO: Yeah, like nails, but they’re huge. I can show you.
OTIS: Gallo says it was no accident.
But how do you know that somebody came out and threw nails?
GALLO: Because they came up with the motorcycles, and they started telling her, hey, your tire’s down. Your tire’s down.
OTIS: You got a flat.
GALLO: Don’t – yeah, you got a flat. Come here. I can help you out.
OTIS: Gallo says mechanics then run up the bill by surreptitiously making more punctures in the tire and charging excessive rates for each patch.
GALLO: When they fix the tire, they made more holes. And they say to you, hey, you have four holes.
UNIDENTIFIED CITY OFFICIAL: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: The pinchallantas are getting more efficient. For example, an embedded nail usually creates a slow leak in a tire so it may take hours to go flat.
JULIANA SAENZ: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: But city officials show me a handful of sharp tube-shaped pieces of metal that the pinchallantas have started using. They cause the air to go out of tires immediately.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: Reports about pinchallantas have become a staple of TV newscasts, which also warn motorists about trouble spots in Bogota. But because they move fast, it’s hard to catch delinquents in the act of puncturing tires.
SAENZ: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED SHOP OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: Instead, the police are moving against tire repair shops suspected of collaborating with the pinchallantas.
UNIDENTIFIED SHOP OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
SAENZ: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED SHOP OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
SAENZ: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED SHOP OWNER: (Speaking Spanish).
SAENZ: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: This shop owner denies any wrongdoing, but it turns out his permits and other paperwork are out of date, so the cops temporarily close down his shop. Sabotaging motorists in order to patch their tires may seem like a rather convoluted way to strike it rich.
SAENZ: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: But rather than one big payoff, Bogota security official Juliana Saenz tells me that unscrupulous mechanics count on a steady stream of victims. They may fix 30 or so flats per day, which can add up to hundreds of dollars.
Gallo, the lawyer, points out that Colombian delinquents are always coming up with outlandish ways to shake people down.
GALLO: The people has a lot of imagination.
OTIS: Creative imagination.
GALLO: Yes, creative imagination.
OTIS: I guess that’s called entrepreneurship or something?
GALLO: (Laughter) Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
GALLO: Something like that.
OTIS: For NPR News, I’m John Otis in Bogota, Colombia.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOM SZIRTES’ “BLISSED OUT”)
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