A police officer temporarily shuts down an auto services shop in Bogotá, Colombia, June 26, saying his business permit and other paperwork were out of date. Authorities are targeting tire-repair shops that motorists have flagged for their suspected collaboration with pinchallantas, or tire-puncturers. John Otis for NPR hide caption
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John Otis for NPR
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.”
Police officers temporarily shut down a tire-repair shop in Bogotá, Colombia, on June 26. John Otis for NPR hide caption
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John Otis for NPR
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.”
