The drugs were hidden in the floor of the vehicle and covered by steel and liquid fuel.
Chilean Customs inspectors seized more than $1.345 million pesos worth of cocaine and marijuana at the El Loa outpost, 152 kilometers south of Iquique (north). The procedure responds to the agency's role in protecting the country and its citizens to prevent all types of smuggling and in this case prevented the sale of 57 kilos of cocaine alkaloid and 40 kilos of marijuana.
The Deputy Director of Customs Inspection, Javier Uribe Martínez, indicated that "this result is not a product of chance, but of the good work we do in risk profiling. Since last year We are strengthening the work of analysis and the use of non-invasive technology in customs controls throughout the country, which is added to the ongoing preparation and training of our inspection teams, whose skills allow them to detect the most diverse forms of concealment, providing security to our borders and to citizens. This also applies to the framework of the Contingency Plan for the visit of Pope Francis "accounting for the efficiency of this reinforcement."
The Regional Director of the Iquique Customs Office, Dennys Beltrand Santos, explained that during the contingency plan for maximum capacity due to the increase in passengers, a series of control parameters were established. In this context, the customs officers selected a foreign van and its trailer for inspection using non-invasive technology.
"Thanks to Institutional scanner truck identified irregularities in the structure and work was also done with a detector dog and fiberscopes. After that, the specialized teams dismantled the floor of the trailer and found a specially designed steel compartment. It was a very exhausting job to reach where the contraband was hidden," said the Regional Director.
The drug was distributed in 55 packs of black color containing a total of 57 kilos 250 grams of cocaine hydrochloride, in addition to other 57 packages of similar features and contained a total of 40 kilos 100 grams of marijuana.
The driver JCM, 38 years old, was traveling in the vehicle along with the brothers J.CH.F. and M.CH.F., 38 and 20 years old respectively. They are all Bolivian nationals and residents of Cochabamba.
The accused, along with the drugs and evidence, were handed over via chain of custody to the OS-7 of Carabineros.
The arrest warrant was carried out on Tuesday (15.01.2018) at the Iquique Court of Guarantee and the Public Prosecutor charged the three foreigners with drug trafficking. Judge Leonardo Valdivieso determined to leave them in preventive detention for the 120 days that the investigation lasts.
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