Feel the buzz

FOUR prisoners in an El Salvador jail hid mobile phones, a phone charger and spare chips in their bowels so they could co-ordinate crimes from their cells...

The men, all gang members, wrapped their phones and accessories in plastic and inserted them into their rectums "far enough to reach their intestines," Ramon Arevalo, director of the maximum security Zacatecoluca prison, said.

The men, members of the ultra-violent Mara Salvatrucha street gang and the first in El Salvador known to go to such lengths to make phone calls in jail, used the mobile phones to manage robberies, blackmail and murders outside, Mr Arevalo said.

The Zacatecoluca prison is also known by the nickname "Zacatraz," after the US island penitentiary Alcatraz.

Zacatecoluca is about 65km east of the capital San Salvador and currently home to 337 inmates

"Dun text msg me DonJuan, ring me ring me ok? I have set the phone on vibe, it makes me feel good inside, you know what I mean? It's already a pain in the arse, so give me something good to look forward to, k? Oh, and smart arse, send me some more of 'em lub."