Chilean authorities are providing more detail about the growing sophistication and violence of transnational organized crime as homicides and drug seizures grow and local and foreign criminal groups deepen their grip on a country not previously known for criminality.
The recently established Organized Crime and Drug Unit (Unidad Especializada en Crimen Organizado y Drogas) of Chile’s Attorney General’s Office released its first report on December 1, showing that violence and homicides related to drug trafficking have increased in the country, along with drug seizures.
The report lays out the structure and activities of foreign gangs in Chile, which are increasingly involved in extortion, kidnapping, and human smuggling and trafficking. The study highlights the roles of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and the Gallegos, as well as Peruvian groups the Pulpos and the del Callao, in that criminal market.
Transnational foreign gangs are also active in drug trafficking in Chile, and some of them have incorporated the country into their trafficking routes. Bolivian, Peruvian, and Colombian groups are the most involved.
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Yet, local groups also hold significant power in Chile’s criminal networks and are behind growing crime rates. The report mentions the enhanced sophistication of organized crime in the country, which, according to Valeska Troncoso, a professor at the University of Santiago de Chile, happens due to the increasingly diverse operations of both national and foreign gangs as they enhance their capacities and coexist.
“I believe that there is a diversification of activities on both sides. We are talking about a strategic capacity and about the great flexibility of sharing spaces,” said Troncoso, who did not work on the government report.
The study, covering the period from 2015 to 2023, is especially relevant as it is the first time authorities have created a clear outline of organized crime and illicit economies in Chile.
“These aspects are fundamental because we had a policy against organized crime in which there was no conceptual clarity,” Troncoso said.
InSight Crime Analysis
Foreign gangs have made a big move into Chile and may have established their control over different activities within the country through cooperation with local gangs. They are hellbent on expansion, profit, and diversifying the local criminal market.
Government pressure on organized crime in other countries has helped accelerate the displacement of criminal groups into Chile, and the country’s political and economic stability favors their entrance and explains its attractiveness to foreign groups, Troncoso said.
“Criminal organizations take these elements into consideration when determining costs, benefits, and risk mitigation,” she said.
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Chile’s long coastline and numerous ports with strong global trade ties make it attractive for international drug trafficking as well.
Outside Latin America, the involvement of Chinese mafias in drug trafficking and human smuggling in Chile shows that the country’s appeal goes beyond the continent.
“This report shows that Chile is involved in transnational organized crime, which had not been recognized,” Troncoso told InSight Crime.
And as foreign criminal groups conquer Chile’s criminal market, local gangs see an opportunity to cooperate and enable their entry into the country.
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Chilean criminals are more familiar with the local context, making them useful partners for foreign organizations.
“To move cocaine from Peru or Bolivia into Chile’s northern zone, for example, foreign gangs need people who know the territory very well and who can distribute the drugs,” Troncoso said.
Meanwhile, local groups benefit from protection by foreign organizations and are able to enhance their profits as cooperation increases their mobility and control over the territory, Troncoso said.
“They see this alliance as a way to diversify criminal activities as well,” she said.
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Publish date : 2024-12-19 01:41:00
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