As part of the Government's strategy to address the various forms that organized crime has taken in the country, the National Customs Service, through the transfer of resources from the Ministry of Public Works, will carry out the long-awaited construction of a New complex at the Customs Outpost in Quillagua, located on the Highway 5 North on the border of the Tarapacá and Antofagasta regions.
It is a Investment of $26 million pesos that the Ministry of Public Works, through the General Directorate of Public Works, will transfer to the National Customs Service, within the framework of the Infrastructure Fund for Development (FIDE) program, funds that will be executed from 2023, projecting its implementation for the first quarter of 2025. The project is part of the Infrastructure works portfolio of the National Customs Service, led by the institution's Infrastructure and Investment Department.
This Exclusive customs control is administered by the Regional Customs of Iquique and among its objectives are to inspect the goods that are transported to the south of the country by land, due to the regime of Free zone or free port that exists in the Tarapacá Region, and be a tax protection barrier and against the smuggling of illegal goods, including drugs and weapons.
La Minister of Public Works, Jessica López, indicated that “for us as the Ministry of Public Works, this signing, this transfer of resources, is very important, because it is part of what we have called an Infrastructure Agenda for Security. There are a number of demands in the area of our security and many of them have to do with infrastructure that enables all the public policies in this area, such as infrastructure for Carabineros, PDI, the Public Ministry, the Ministry of Justice, prisons, and now we are adding the National Customs Service with this complex.”
La National Director of Customs, Alejandra Arriaza Loeb, highlighted “the efforts and collaboration between institutions that have been made to achieve this project. The new complex is part of the plan to combat organized crime that the government is carrying out. This investment in infrastructure improvement is added to resources for the renewal of technologies and tools to strengthen customs inspection. The objective is to provide Customs officials with the best conditions to carry out the important work of protecting the country's borders against smuggling, attempts to enter illegal substances, weapons or any other merchandise that puts people at risk. It is also relevant because it allows us to have a standard of care for the users of the complex, who are those travelers who enter or leave the Iquique Free Trade Zone and its Free Trade Zone Extension to the rest of the country. »
For its part, the National Director of Architecture, Loreto Whar He commented that "the replacement of the Quillagua customs outpost is part of a joint effort that we are carrying out with the National Customs Service to modernize its infrastructure, since we are already building its new offices in Talcahuano and Puerto Aysén. In this case, we are going to build almost 3 thousand square meters of customs facilities, in addition to sheds and urbanization works, enclosures that will allow decent working conditions for officials, better service to travelers and better results in the surveillance of smuggling."
The Quillagua customs control has been in operation for over 45 years in the same place and the infrastructure used does not meet the minimum standards for efficient operation. The new customs control will be located on the south side of the current facilities, so its construction will not affect the permanent operation of the current control.
The importance of this customs advance is reflected in the figures: during 2022, more than 503 thousand vehicles (trucks, buses and cars) circulated through this control and with a monthly average of 151 thousand people or passengers. While the movement of cargo reached, for the same period in 2022, 3.992.377 tons.
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