Seven detained in Chile linked to PCC: operation spanned 11 regions
The PDI arrested seven members of the Brazilian criminal gang PCC after two years of investigation. High-calibre weapons were found and a fugitive is identified in connection with the murder of a police officer.
National operation against PCC yields seven arrests and high-calibre weapons
The Police Investigation Service of Chile (PDI) detained seven people linked to the Brazilian criminal organisation Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) on Monday, according to infobea.com. The operation was executed in the early hours and covered municipalities from Arica to Lebu, spanning eleven of the country's sixteen regions.
The action resulted from two years of investigation and brings the total number of detentions related to this organisation in Chile to twenty. Thirteen of those involved were already serving sentences in Chilean prisons for crimes linked to drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering. In connection with the arrest of the seven new detainees, high-calibre weapons were found.
One member of the cell who has been identified and is currently a fugitive is named in connection with his involvement in the murder of a police officer that occurred on 27 August, according to the investigation. The seven arrested persons will be placed at the disposal of the Public Ministry for crimes linked to the organisation, whilst those already serving sentences could face re-charges.
The PDI's Anti-narcotics Brigade coordinated simultaneous raids across different regions. Sub-prefect Pablo Godoy, head of the Southern Anti-narcotics Brigade, told the press that "international cooperation with the DEA has allowed us to identify individuals who were positioning themselves here in Chile as members of a criminal structure".
The Security Minister, Martín Arrau, highlighted the participation of the DEA, the FBI and the Federal Police of Brazil in the information exchange that made the investigation possible.
The PCC emerged in a São Paulo prison in 1993 and currently operates in 28 countries. Since May it has appeared on the United States Department of State's list as a foreign terrorist organisation. Its presence in Chile was detected in 2022, when Brazilian police found, during a seizure of mobile phones, numbers of Chilean contacts and evidence that the organisation had recruited people to expand into the country.
President José Antonio Kast called on opposition sectors on Monday to reach agreements around his security reform to combat organised crime, a text that has received criticism from across the political spectrum and which the Government could withdraw from the Senate to rethink with opposition consensus. In the last decade, Chile moved from being one of the most stable countries in the region to becoming a theatre of operations for multiple transnational criminal organisations.
Source: Google News CL — Crime