Chile seizes 1,200 kg of marijuana in El Bosque; one Chilean arrested
Chilean prosecutors and the PDI's anti-narcotics brigade broke up part of an international ring in Operación Aguas Escondidas on 3 February 2026, seizing about 1,200 kg of cannabis sativa at security depots in El Bosque, Santiago, and arresting a Chilean man. Police said the marijuana came from Bolivia through Antofagasta and valued the haul at more than 6,000 million pesos.
🇨🇱 El Bosque, Santiago Metropolitan Region · Chile
Chilean prosecutors and detectives of the PDI’s Brigada Antinarcóticos Sur
dismantled part of an international ring that brought large loads of cannabis
into Chile through the north of the country.[1]The operation, called
Operación Aguas Escondidas, ended with the detention of several suspects, one of
them a Chilean citizen.[1]The PDI reported the arrest of a Chilean man caught
transporting the marijuana in the commune of El Bosque.[2]The head of the
PDI’s national organised-crime unit, Erick Menay, said the suppliers were
Bolivian and the drug entered through unauthorised crossings in the Antofagasta
region.[2]The load was then taken to the Metropolitan Region and stored in
“security depots” in El Bosque for sale to microtraffickers.[2]The
organisation moved the drug from Antofagasta into Santiago-area safe houses in
El Bosque for sale in the capital’s southern sector.[3]
Officers seized around 1,200 kilos of cannabis sativa, the vehicles used to move
the drug, mobile phones and firearms.[3]Fernando Anais, the chief prosecutor
of the Fiscalía Oriente’s criminal-analysis unit, said the operation led to the
inspection of a tonne and 200 kilos of drugs.[1]Menay said the haul kept more
than one million doses off the streets and put its value at more than 6,000
million pesos, about USD 7 million.[3]
At a press conference Menay said transnational crimes would be faced jointly
with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Undersecretariat for Public Security
to give residents the security they want.[1]Anais said the first phase of the
operation ended with the detentions but the investigation would continue in
order to reach the top of the criminal structure.[3]Prosecutors said they
would ask a court to remand the detainee in pre-trial detention.[2]Acting
Public Security Minister Rafael Collado said the country’s police forces seized
134 tonnes of illicit substances in 2025, 135 per cent more than in 2024.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
BioBioChilebiobiochile.clESDesbaratan parte de una banda internacional que tenían más de mil kilos de marihuana en El Bosque
Emolemol.comESDetienen a hombre transportando una tonelada de marihuana: Droga está avaluada en $6 mil millones
Infobaeinfobae.comESCayó en Chile una banda narco internacional: se incautó más de una tonelada de marihuana
Open questions the AI reported
Infobae dates the Ministry of the Prosecutor's information to "this Tuesday", 3 February 2026, and the detention was reported that day; neither report gives a separate hour or day for the seizure itself.
The number of people detained is not stated: the reports say "several suspects" but identify only one, the Chilean man, so only one arrest is recorded.
The weight is given as "about 1,200 kilos" (a tonne and 200 kilos); no laboratory weight was published.
The 6,000 million peso valuation is the PDI's estimate for the haul and was described as worth about USD 7 million by Infobae; no separate cannabis grade or purity information was given.
The outcome of the detention hearing was reported only as an expectation ("everything points to" preventive detention), and no charges, formalisation result or court ruling has been published.
The national figure of 134 tonnes seized in 2025 covers all illicit substances, not cannabis, and is cited only as context from the acting security minister.
The reports do not name the detained man or give his age.
No figure was published for the number of vehicles, phones or firearms seized.
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.
