Detectives of the PDI’s organised-crime investigation brigade, the Brico, raided three properties in Cerro Navia, Estación Central and Renca in the Santiago Metropolitan Region on 4 November 2026.[1] Four people were detained in the operation, three men and one woman.[1] After a formalisation hearing, the court ordered pretrial detention for all four, finding their release a danger to society, and set a 90-day investigation period.[1]
The PDI named the case operation Vector and said it dismantled a network selling ammunition to criminal organisations in the Metropolitan Region.[1] Investigators said the main suspect bought 17,250 cartridges of various calibres from 2025, using his registration as a sport shooter to obtain authorisations from the national mobilisation directorate, the DGMN.[1] He held six firearms registered in his name and belonged to a shooting club, but investigators found no record of attendance or practice at the club’s premises.[1] Detectives followed him collecting cartridges from a Santiago gun shop and later making transactions in Cerro Navia, where the PDI says the ammunition was exchanged for cash and for drugs.[1]
In the three properties the PDI seized 1,034 cartridges, three handguns including a firearm adapted to fire live rounds, seven magazines and documents related to firearms control.[1] Officers also seized 43 bags of marijuana and containers holding cocaine hydrochloride.[1] Prosecutor Pablo Sabaj said the main suspect was arrested with ammunition and a significant quantity of cocaine hydrochloride and marijuana.[1]
The main suspect was charged with trafficking in ammunition and trafficking in drugs, and a hearing ordered pretrial detention for all four detainees.[1]
