PDI seizes 1.62 kg of cannabis resin sent from Santiago to Punta Arenas
Detectives of the PDI anti-narcotics brigade in Punta Arenas seized 1,620 grams of cannabis resin in 100 containers from a parcel sent from Santiago and valued by the force at 2.5 million pesos. A Chilean man with no police record was arrested when he came to collect it and was remanded in pre-trial detention.
Detectives of the BRIANT, the anti-narcotics brigade of the PDI, Chile’s investigative police, in
Punta Arenas seized1,620 grams of cannabis resin in 100 containers.[1][2][3]The resin was a highly
concentrated form of cannabis, and the PDI valued it at about 2.5 million pesos.[1][2][3]
The drug was hidden in a parcel sent from Santiago, and the recipient was detained when he went to a
transport company in Punta Arenas to collect it.[2]Detectives located the parcel through an
exchange of information with the prosecutor’s criminal-analysis unit before it reached the recipient.[2]
The man, an adult Chilean with no police record, was formalised on Thursday 8 October 2026 on a
charge of illicit drug trafficking and remanded in pre-trial detention at the prosecutor’s request.[1][2][3]The court set an initial 45-day investigation period.[2]Subprefect Alfonso Salazar, head
of BRIANT Punta Arenas, said the man had been actively selling cannabis in the Magallanes region and
distributed it “through different methods”.[1][2][3]ITV Patagonia reported that detectives were
working to identify his suppliers, and that the prosecutor was considering asking for more time
because of inquiries outside the region.[2]
Photos and video
The 100 containers of cannabis resin seized in Punta Arenas, arranged for a PDI evidence photograph. Photo: PDI Magallanes.Photo details
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.
