VOX POPULI: Pager and walkie-talkie attacks are reminiscent of old mafia strategies

An Italian judicial official involved in an investigation into the Mafia in the 1990s once told me the following: The Mafia believes that high technology is effective when it is on the offensive, but that low technology is more effective when it is on the defensive.

For example, gangsters used explosives to kill, but when they communicated with each other, they exchanged messages scribbled on pieces of paper.

That sounds like a scene from an old movie. But in reality, it was a piece of paper that led to the arrest of a mafia boss last year.

A piece of paper, received without face-to-face contact and then burned, leaves no evidence. Gangsters seem to have realized that this ultimate low-tech trick is the safest to use.

I was reminded of this when, on September 17, thousands of mobile pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon. These devices were carried by members of the Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah.

The next day, walkie-talkies also exploded.

The explosions killed 37 people and injured more than 3,000.

According to reports, in February a Hezbollah leader banned the use of smartphones by group members and ordered them to use pagers instead. He apparently thought it would be safer to stick to less sophisticated pagers, since Israel could track sophisticated devices like smartphones.

Israel has not disclosed its alleged involvement.

Nowadays, regular people don’t use pagers anymore. But they could become victims if a pager user walks around them. It was even said that a little girl was killed when she tried to give her father a beeping pager.

An American news outlet coined the phrase “modern Trojan horse,” after a story from Greek mythology, for this high-tech trick that turned low-tech gadgets into deadly explosives.

Technology keeps advancing, but human chicanery and cruelty remain unchanged. It leaves me feeling forlorn.

—The Asahi Shimbun, September 23

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column covering a wide range of topics including culture, art, and social trends and developments. Written by experienced Asahi Shimbun writers, the column offers useful perspectives and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.