Following the alert produced by the discovery of weapons that occurred last week in Paraguay, the Risk Analysis Unit of the Regional Customs of Iquique (Chile) intercepted, in the Port of Iquique, a container with parts to assemble around 30 AM-15 Multi Cal model rifles, Anderson Manufacturing Hebron brand.
The Customs Service statement explains that Based on information on foreign trade movements, it was possible to profile 3 containers whose import declarations indicated that they were transporting a total of 10 cars, a motorcycle and accessories for used cars. In addition, the use of the truck scanner confirmed suspicion of smuggling.
The weapons were hidden inside two of the vehicles that arrived in a container from New York, United States, with transshipment in Panama and final destination Iquique., being found inside double bottoms, doors and tool boxes, among other places.
“This shows that the use of data intelligence by Customs is very important to be able to deal with the commission of complex crimes with high public significance. Inter-institutional coordination is also very important to ensure the success of the procedure, in this case with the Prosecutor's Office, the PDI and the Navy, which provided support for the security perimeter,” explained the National Director of Customs, José Ignacio Palma.
The authority added that "although this great discovery took place in Iquique, the institutional efforts of Customs with other agencies dedicated to border protection are deployed throughout the country, with permanent alerts and officials being constantly trained to prevent the entry into Chile of all types of illegal goods."
This is framed in the Weapons and Fireworks Table installed in December 2020 by the Ministry of the Interior and where Customs, Carabineros, the Investigative Police (PDI) and the General Directorate of National Mobilization (DGMN) have worked together to share and analyze information regarding this market, focused on weapons of illegal origin, modified or "homemade" tools, blank guns or "replicas" and ammunition and fireworks.
Additionally, following the discovery of the weapons in the first container, on the instructions of Prosecutor Paola Apablaza, the Anti-Narcotics and Organized Crime Brigade (BRIANCO) of the PDI together with Customs officials attended the offices of the importing company, detecting two additional containers that had already been removed from the port premises and that were returned to the port for a more detailed inspection, but without finding more weapons.
This procedure initiated by the Iquique Customs Office is also added to the work being carried out in response to the alert by the Strategic Coordination Unit of the Northern Macro Zone, where other security and government institutions participate.
The Customs Enforcement Sub-directorate heads the Integrated Security Enforcement Plan (PIF), in the context of which thousands of weapons, ammunition, parts and pieces and fireworks have been seized in containers, passenger controls, vehicles, buses and cargo truck cabins.
Between 2018 and 2021 (as of June), Customs seized 73 weapons, 63.434 ammunition and parts, and 1.655.368 fireworks units at authorized crossings.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
