Four anti-drug officers held in Arica over 1.1 tons of marijuana
Chilean police arrested four Carabineros officers, including the regional anti-drug chief in Arica, plus two civilians on 25 November 2013 for allegedly running marijuana shipments from Bolivia totalling about 1.1 tons. The national anti-drug chief was reassigned two days later.
Four Carabineros officers, including the chief of the anti-drug OS-7 unit in Arica and a captain and two sergeants, were arrested with two civilians for allegedly facilitating at least two marijuana shipments from Bolivia into northern Chile.[1]The group was accused of organizing the passage of drug consignments totalling about 1.1 tons of marijuana.[2]
The two shipments had been seized on 5 August and 9 September 2013, and investigators said the officers financed and organized the whole operation.[1]The Arica prosecutor’s office had been investigating the OS-7 unit since October, and its district attorney said the officers were responsible for the trafficking scheme.[2][3]
A day after the arrests, the national Carabineros director reassigned anti-drug chief Colonel Carlos Hidalgo to a missing-persons unit, a move reported as a tough stance on police corruption.[2][3]The Arica prosecutor opened a review of more than 100 cases for possible links between officers and traffickers.[2]
Photos and video
A drug shipment allegedly organized by the officersPhoto details
PDI detectives arrested three men and a woman aged 28 to 57 in La Legua, San Joaquín, after raiding four homes used as drug sales points. Officers seized cocaine base, cocaine hydrochloride and cannabis along with cash, phones, two firearms and a car.
Detectives detained six Chileans accused of running a family drug-trafficking group in La Pincoya, Huechuraba. Officers seized almost 4 kg of mixed drugs including cannabis, valued at over 19 million pesos, but reported no separate cannabis weight.
Carabineros of the Hijuelas highway unit detained a woman on suspicion of drug trafficking after finding ten packages of pressed marijuana in the luggage of an interprovincial bus on Ruta 5 Norte at Nogales. Officers seized 11 kilos and 875 grams of pressed marijuana and placed the woman at the disposal of the Ministerio Público.
A taxi colectivo driver who struck a Carabinero directing traffic in central Osorno on 7 November was found positive for marijuana and cocaine in drug tests and was detained. The first corporal suffered a serious fracture of his right wrist, and the duty prosecutor ordered the driver to be brought to a detention review.
