Inspectors from the Chilean National Customs Service intercepted a Bolivian truck with 39 kilos 900 grams of cocaine paste that was bound for the city of Antofagasta, on the northern border. The detection was recorded at the El Loa customs outpost and the driver was placed in preventive detention.
The Regional Director of the Iquique Customs, Cristian Molina Silva, pointed out that “Constant training and risk profiling allowed our inspection teams to select and detect contraband that was hidden in a foreign vehicle.".
Molina highlighted the capacity of the inspectors, “who managed to find this meticulous concealment system, which consisted of a considerable modification of the structure of the vehicle".
Customs officials used densitometers and fiberscopes to locate the drugs and, using various tools, dismantled a metal structure that contained a total of 39 kilos 900 grams of cocaine paste in bulk.
The driver, a Bolivian national, intended to reach Antofagasta with the drugs.
The arrest was carried out at the Iquique Court of Guarantee and the prosecutor Gonzalo Guerrero charged the foreigner with the crime of drug trafficking as the author. Judge Frederick Roco Alvarado decreed the legal arrest and determined to leave the accused in preventive detention for 120 days.
The seized cargo has a value that could exceed $598 million ($700 thousand) in illicit trade.
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