A Chilean and an Ecuadorian were traveling from Iquique to Santiago in a van specially modified to hide the drugs.
A Chilean and an Ecuadorian were caught by officials of the Chilean Customs Service with a multimillion-dollar shipment of cocaine and marijuana at the El Loa Antofagasta outpost. The drugs were hidden in the structure of a pickup truck and were detected using a detector dog and non-invasive technology.
The Regional Director of the Iquique Customs, Dennys Beltrand Santos, said that during the control tasks to prevent smuggling, a truck with a Chilean license plate was identified trying to leave the region through the El Loa customs outpost. “It was a 4×4 truck that was traveling with A Chilean and an Ecuadorian from Iquique to Santiago. After an initial interview, the travelers were unable to explain the reasons for their transit and were subjected to special screening.”
This is how a can detector alerted his guide on traces of drugs on the body of the vehicle, which was later confirmed with the use of a densitometer and the scanner truck. After the above, the structure was intervened and the inspectors found 67 packages containing a total of 38 kilos 150 grams of cocaine hydrochloride and 68 packages with 18 kilos 850 grams of marijuana.
A Chilean and an Ecuadorian were caught in Iquique. Photo: Chilean Customs
The seized drugs have a value of more than $857 million on the illicit market, “and their detection is a demonstration of the high level of preparation and teamwork of our officers, since it was proven on the ground that the van had a special design and intervention for hiding the drug packages,” added the Regional Director.
Once the existence of drugs was confirmed, the prosecutor on duty was informed and the drugs, along with the defendants and the evidence, were handed over via chain of custody to the OS-7 of Carabineros.
The arrest control was carried out at the Iquique Guarantee Court. The Ecuadorian DEDM (25) and the Chilean JBME (24) were charged with drug trafficking by prosecutor Juan Zepeda and both were placed in preventive detention for the 120 days that the investigation lasts.
During the months of January and February of this year, the Customs of Arica, Iquique and Antofagasta have seized 480 kilos 894,60 grams of different drugs in 141 procedures. This figure represents an increase of 63,6% in relation to the quantity of drugs seized on the same date last year.
In 2017, the National Customs Service seized more than 3 tons of drugs throughout Chile: 629 kilos of cocaine paste; 1.639 kilos of cocaine hydrochloride and 833 kilos of marijuana, all of the above valued at more than 8 billion pesos.
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