(Trinidad Guardian) – Law enforcement agencies have been put on alert for a deadly weapon, concealed in a cellphone, known as the “mobile phone gun.” US authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, Federal Aviation Administra-tion and the US Customs Service Authority have supplied T&T with detailed information and pictures of the new .22-calibre pistol. At the Piarco International Airport, Customs and Excise Division, Immigration, Inter-pol and the Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau (OCNFB) officers have been warned to be on the lookout for the weapon. According to several Internet news and cellphone sites, the phone has a capability of firing four live rounds of .22-calibre ammunition in quick succession, by hitting the numbers 5,6,7,8 on the keypad.
Acting Police Commis-sioner James Philbert confirmed, during a telephone interview with the Guardian that the T&T Police Service was alerted about the weapon. He said: “That (information about the phone guns) came to us some time ago and we are aware of it, the cellphone gun. “There are some strange things coming up and we are on the look-out for them because we are finding phones which come in different ways as well. Nowadays everything is being disguised and we are keeping a close watch as we carry out our daily duties.”
Head of the OCNFB, Snr Supt Simon Alexis, said his unit had and always would remain vigilant to ensure T&T was safe. When asked if OCNFB had instituted additional measures to ensure the gun did not slip into the country, Alexis said: “We, as law enforcement officers, are always on the lookout for any new weapons or designs where that (smuggling) is concerned.” Internet Web site, Metacafe.com, has a video demonstration of how the gun is operated. According to information posted on the Internet, the new gun was first discovered in 2001 when Dutch police stumbled on a cache during a drug raid in Amsterdam.
How the ‘phone gun’ works:
It is loaded by twisting the phone in half. The four .22-calibre rounds fit into the top of the phone under the screen. The lower half, under the keyboard, holds the firing pins. The bullets fire through the antenna by pressing the numbers five, six, seven and eight on the keypad. Amsterdam police say they are very sophisticated machines constructed inside gutted cellphones which do not light up or operate as real phones.