As a “brutal” story “covered with a crudeness that is rarely seen”, this is how the deputy for Antofagasta, Jaime Araya (Ind-PPD), defined the sayings of the Regional Prosecutor of that area, Juan Castro Bekios, to The counter.
On the occasion, along with explaining that in the five months that have passed this year 10 tons of drugs have already been seized therethe persecutor also provided details about the two criminal organizations dismantled in recent weeks in different camps in the city, one led by Colombians linked to “Los Shottas”, from Buenaventura, and the other formed by “The pirates of Aragua”, such as Today it calls itself the Aragua Train.
In this regard, Castro denounced that these and other criminal organizations dominate through violence in the seizure of land, becoming providers of basic services, collectors of “rents” for the space inhabited by their victims (many of whom are, generally , their compatriots) and, as if that were not enough, extorting anyone who wants to carry out any economic activity, demanding money from them on a weekly basis (the so-called “vaccine”) in exchange for the supposed protection they provide.
In the same regard, prosecutor Castro – coinciding with what organized crime expert Pablo Zeballos previously stated in this same medium – assured that there is a phenomenon of favelization that is underway and that many communities operate as small states within the State, something that the parliamentarian also agrees on.
Araya, who chaired the special investigative commission of the Chamber of Deputies regarding organized crime in said area, commented that what was expressed by the Regional Prosecutor “unfortunately is the reality of what is being experienced in the northern macrozone of the country. He demonstrates very well how the criminal phenomenon has already definitively established itself in the Second Region.”
-What can the State do, in that sense, from your perspective?
-The State, for example, can strengthen its presence in the communes that today are on the verge of overflowing, as is happening in Calama, Antofagasta and Tocopilla. We have very complex situations, among them, the prison issue, which is really a red light, which I would say is in a permanent state of latency in the Calama prison. It is a very complex situation.
-What exactly is the situation there?
-There is a prison overpopulation that exceeds 100%. Added to this are reduced numbers of gendarmes and a high number of gendarmes with medical licenses. Furthermore, the jail is located in the center of the city and is a vulnerable jail. There has already been an attempt to blow up a prison wall and, if one takes into account that a good part of the latest seizures that are being made contain war weapons, including grenades and dynamiteat any moment we could become the front page of the news, due to what could fundamentally happen there, but the Tocopilla prison is in a rather precarious situation as well.
-And more immediate responses that the State can implement?
-I believe that there was an adequate response with the installation of the “Street without violence” plan in Calama, to stop the escalation of homicides that occurred during the previous year. I have a good opinion of that tool. It served to contain the explosive rise in homicides, but we continue with an upward trend that is very important. There you have to look for a redesign formula.
-Its the only thing?
-Of course not. The issue of Internal Taxes is fundamental, which in this region is absolutely absent, I have made it clear in different spaces. In fact, I would say that a month ago I sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance asking the minister What was the basis for the decision of Internal Revenue to not supervise what we understand to be activities that could be (involved) in money laundering?.
-What type of activities are those?
-Basically the barbershops, the small ones malls that are being installed in the city center, the sale of low-cost electronic items and the proliferation of opticians, in addition, obviously, to mini-casinos.
It is absurd that Internal Revenue maintains that as long as they are paid the tax they have nothing to supervise, because money laundering is precisely about, through the payment of taxes, illicit money transformed into legal money.
Given this, as we have a regulation that gives exclusive attribution to the Internal Revenue Service, the Prosecutor’s Office and the police have no way to begin the investigation, and that is an issue that has me with a tremendous question mark, as to why the The Internal Revenue Service does not audit, and I raised this at least in the month of September. I spoke with Undersecretary (of the Interior) Monsalve, I expressed my concern, because the SII of the Second Region did not supervise and there is a commitment to resolve the issue, but we are in May of the following year, ending May, and there is still no response.
follow the money
In the same sense, it indicates that “it is important to note that organized crime is structured based on the construction of assets, which are the product of illicit activity. If we are not capable of destroying the assets of criminal organizations, of controlling them, of making their lives difficult, it is very likely that the gangs will continue to arrive. I am convinced that Chile is a true tax haven for organized crime and drug trafficking. Banking secrecy at the level of dogma of faith is untouchable, and the truth of the matter is that this prevents an adequate heritage investigation. So, as long as we do not take the substantial step to modify that, here we are going to continue having criminal gangs, because it is very lucrative, in addition to unfortunately developing an internal market for drugs, particularly marijuana, which did not exist in Chile.”
In this regard, it details that In April alone, three tons of marijuana were seized in the Antofagasta Regionwhich – in his opinion – shows that “it is evident that we have a growing criminal phenomenon.”
-What is being done at the legislative level regarding investigations by the SII? I ask this because there have been various initiatives precisely aimed at handing the initiative of the investigation into these issues to the Prosecutor’s Office, but they have never prospered.
-I must say, with great disappointment, that in the fast track Legislatively, we proposed the rule that removes the exclusivity of the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office in economic crimes, particularly to prosecute tax evasion; the one that removes the exclusivity of the Electoral Service for crimes in the context of political campaigns; and the one that takes away the exclusivity of the Internal Revenue Service, but unfortunately there was no agreement.
This project exists, and I know that it is uncomfortable for many political sectors, but I am convinced that, together, we have to take that fundamental step, which is to loosen the moorings so that the Public Ministry and the police can investigate property crimes. that are articulated based on money laundering.
-The prosecutor expressed several problems that surely require a faster resolution, such as the lack of vehicles with adequate displacement for the highlands, or the installation of Dipolmar (maritime intelligence) in Antofagasta.
-I understand that there is prioritization and a better standard for border vehicles. There is some empowerment through the UPF, the Border Crossings Unit, which is generating a standard of equipment that the State should have at the border, and the Directemar places, on which Dipolmar depends, have also just been expanded. That was a very important effort that was made in the Chamber of Deputies.
-Are some of these new places for Antofagasta?
-This increase in Directemar positions must have a natural impact in the north of the country, because due to complaints that I have received from different fishing unions, There are several coves that are no longer intended for artisanal fishing, but are true drug collection points.. So everything has a logic: the La Negra control is the largest drug seizure point in the north of the country and the way to evade it is to take the drugs from Tocopilla to Caleta Blanco, which is in the Paposo sector, and from there access to Taltal and from there to Route 5, and from there they continue south. So there is a phenomenon that occurs when seizures increase in La Negra: the following week seizures increase in the Las Bombas sector, which is outside of Taltal.
I also understand that measures have been taken regarding, for example, things that are simpler, but that are important, such as authorizing Investigative Police officials to use long weapons at border points. In Hito Cajón, where they are hundreds of kilometers from the nearest populated point, absolutely in the middle of nowhere, it is an indispensable tool. Today, clashes are not uncommon in the border area, where criminals shoot police officers.
The striking rise of the drug
Another point on which deputy Jaime Araya reflects is related to why there have been so many seizures of drugs, which come from Bolivia or Peru, “having a military presence. It is a question that I understand is uncomfortable, but that the Army has to answer. I think I am not wrong if I say that we are reaching the 60 billion pesos in drug seizures achieved in 2024.”
-Only in the Antofagasta Region?
-Only in the Antofagasta Region. It is a sidereal amount. Drug traffickers are becoming a sector of the regional economy. And, faced with that, I believe that there are gaps that must be closed and one of the most important I believe is that, if we have a military presence on borders, which is focused, let’s say, on what the immigration system is, because They have mobile observation and they have their strategy, how is it not possible to substantially reduce vehicle theft and the entry of drugs?
Faced with the above, the parliamentarian details that Antofagasta should be a kind of barrier to the south, as he points out that “it is already clear that, once these phenomena reach the metropolitan areas of the country, or the most populated areas, it is impossible check. We warned at the time about what the motochorros were, what the hitmen were, the kidnappings for extortion, things that many times the people of the central zone found somewhat amusing. and they listened to what we said with disbelief. In fact, several parliamentarians were branded as exaggerated or alarmist for what we said, that we were fantasists.
-The increase in camps in the area is very striking. Are there measures being taken based on this gigantic growth?
-They are measures that are on the periphery. They are very limited things, very marginal. I would expect a decision to be made, for example, to open roads in the camps, because They are camps that are designed in a favela format, which are designed so that there is no oversight, so that there is no presence of the State, and we cannot allow that to be happening within the State of Chile. That is the logic of some Latin American mafias, but we cannot accept that this happens particularly in Antofagasta, where the steep area is very close and has a lot of construction today.
A State decision is required to open streets to challenge organized crime. It is the first measure, as it allows firefighters, ambulances, and police to deploy without any problem. The images that were released from the operations of the previous week show that they are real favelas that were built. And that is no coincidence. There is a decision and one has to investigate in depth if some camps are managed by organized crime in this format, to transform them into collection centers or bases of operations that are difficult to access and difficult to control.
