Calama tanker truck hid 4,695 kg of marijuana in record Antofagasta seizure
Chilean prosecutors and Carabineros seized 4,695 kilograms of marijuana and ketamine from a tanker truck in Calama on 30 April 2026, detaining three Colombians and a Bolivian loader. Antofagasta’s regional prosecutor called it the largest single seizure in 25 years of criminal procedure reform; all four were formalised and held in preventive detention.
Antofagasta prosecutors and Carabineros’ OS7 El Loa unit raided an eastern Calama property
on 30 April 2026 after an investigation found marijuana and ketamine stockpiled for shipment
toward central Chile.[1][2]Officers caught three Colombian men loading a sealed tanker
truck and later arrested a Bolivian linked to the group.[1][2]
The agencies removed 4,695 kilograms of marijuana from the operation, which both described
as the largest single drug seizure since Chile’s 2001 criminal procedure reform.[1][2]Prosecutors formalised all four for drug trafficking and secured preventive detention.[1][2]
Regional prosecutor Juan Castro Bekios said the case reflected transnational organised crime
using elaborate concealment, and zone commander General Cristian Montre Soto said the load
had been destined mainly for central and southern regions.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Fiscalía de Chilefiscaliadechile.clESFiscalía concreta la mayor incautación de drogas en 25 años: 4.831 kilos de marihuana y ketamina ocultos en un camión cisterna
La Terceralatercera.comESArchived copyMarihuana y ketamina: Carabineros y Fiscalía concretan histórica incautación de 4.831 kilos de droga en Calama
Open questions the AI reported
Headlines cite 4,831 kg including ketamine while marijuana alone is given as 4,695.2 kg; this report keeps only the cannabis figure stated for the plant material.
La Tercera gives ketamine as 136.5 kg liquid; the Fiscalía page says 138 kg in the tank.
The PDI's anti-narcotics brigade in Calama seized 186 kg of pressed marijuana at a stash point in the border area near San Pedro de Atacama, a find the local prosecutor said came from the internal border task force. The PDI valued the load at 900 million pesos and said it would be destroyed.
Carabineros' OS-7 unit in Cachapoal detained a 23-year-old man after seizing more than two kilos of marijuana from an interprovincial bus at kilometre 58 of Ruta 5 Sur in Mostazal. Drug-detecting dog Kelsy alerted officers to the luggage, and the man was placed at the disposal of the Ministerio Público on a trafficking allegation.
Carabineros detained a 50-year-old driver at a vehicle check on the northern access to the Coquimbo Region and seized 30.36 kg of processed marijuana in 30 packages. The Tenencia Carreteras Elqui found two packages in the car and OS7 officers found another 28 a short distance from the check point.
Carabineros in Chile's Atacama region detained five Chilean adults after officers found 140 marijuana packages in two vehicles at a service station on Route 5 Norte in Chañaral, and seized 156 kg 692 g of marijuana. Prosecutors formalised trafficking charges against the five and a Chañaral court placed them all in preventive detention; Carabineros valued the haul at about 1.57 billion pesos.
