Raúl Barragán
Encyclopedia
Raúl Barragán man from Concepción del Uruguay
, Entre Ríos
, Argentina
, was convicted in Argentina for selling, giving away, and making for himself airline tickets on many international airlines, without the airlines' consent.
Barragán became a general manager of Aerolíneas Argentinas
in 1978 at Concordia, a border city between Argentina and Uruguay. He is a member of an affluent Uruguayense family.
According to police records, Barragán admitted to having used the SITA
(Sociedad Internacional de Telecomunicaciones Aeronáuticas, or International Society of Aeronautical Telecommunications) computer system named. With SITA, he would pretend to be an employee for another airline and convince other international airlines that it should process tickets for him, which would later be paid by the airline of which he pretended to be an employee.
The records say that Barragan began hacking after one of his legitimate free trips that he earned as an employee. During that trip, he made a girlfriend in Caracas
, Venezuela
, and, apparently, he became so infatuated by her that he wanted to visit every weekend. This motivated him to cheat airlines to authorize free travel. Supposedly, he also gave away many tickets to his friends.
The records also said that Barragan went to Brazil
on a week's trip with a friend and found himself almost broke with three days left before his return to Argentina. With little food left in his hotel, Barragan allegedly booked himself onto a first class trip to Tokyo
. He and his friend boarded the plane to Japan
, flew there, waited at the airport and then boarded the return flight to Brazil the next day, allowing them to enjoy the first class food and amenities.
He was detained and investigated in 1983, but because no airline was willing to prosecute him, he was released.
Arrested once again in 1993, Barragan was convicted by judge Juan Jose Galeano. His conviction has been criticised by many because no airline ever testified against him and for other possibly relevant circumstances.
Concepción del Uruguay
Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina.It is located in the Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 65,000 inhabitants .-History:...
, Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, was convicted in Argentina for selling, giving away, and making for himself airline tickets on many international airlines, without the airlines' consent.
Barragán became a general manager of Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas , formally Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., is Argentina's largest airline and serves as the country's flag carrier. Owned in its majority by the Argentine Government, the airline is headquartered in the Torre Bouchard, located in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires...
in 1978 at Concordia, a border city between Argentina and Uruguay. He is a member of an affluent Uruguayense family.
According to police records, Barragán admitted to having used the SITA
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
(Sociedad Internacional de Telecomunicaciones Aeronáuticas, or International Society of Aeronautical Telecommunications) computer system named. With SITA, he would pretend to be an employee for another airline and convince other international airlines that it should process tickets for him, which would later be paid by the airline of which he pretended to be an employee.
The records say that Barragan began hacking after one of his legitimate free trips that he earned as an employee. During that trip, he made a girlfriend in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, and, apparently, he became so infatuated by her that he wanted to visit every weekend. This motivated him to cheat airlines to authorize free travel. Supposedly, he also gave away many tickets to his friends.
The records also said that Barragan went to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
on a week's trip with a friend and found himself almost broke with three days left before his return to Argentina. With little food left in his hotel, Barragan allegedly booked himself onto a first class trip to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. He and his friend boarded the plane to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, flew there, waited at the airport and then boarded the return flight to Brazil the next day, allowing them to enjoy the first class food and amenities.
He was detained and investigated in 1983, but because no airline was willing to prosecute him, he was released.
Arrested once again in 1993, Barragan was convicted by judge Juan Jose Galeano. His conviction has been criticised by many because no airline ever testified against him and for other possibly relevant circumstances.
External links
- http://www.ubik.com.ar/303/yuyo.htm (in SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
)