Chile Dismantles International Crime Ring

The Chilean authorities assured that the operational structure in the country of the international criminal gang "Los Trinitarios", formed in New York three decades ago by Dominican immigrants, was dismantled.

"Here there is a criminal organization that was a threat to the security of the country and that has been dismantled," said the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, commenting at a press conference  about the operation that was carried out in 15 sectors of the capital Santiago.

In this joint operation by police agents and the Prosecutor's Office, 123 homes were raided, in which drugs, weapons, money, cryptocurrencies and vehicles were seized, in addition to real estate confiscated, according to the authorities.

The main focus of the procedure, which had been planned since March 2023, was in the 'New Amanecer camp', the largest irregular settlement in Santiago, in the southwest of the capital.

"As a result of this mega-operation carried out, the arrest of 63 people was achieved. Forty-three of these detainees were members of a transnational organization," said the deputy director of Organized Crime and Migration Security of the Investigative Police, Jorge Sánchez.

One day after the operation, the police carried out at the Santiago airport "the arrest of one of the targets and operational arms of the so-called Los Trinitarios gang," said prosecutor Marcos Pastén, who did not provide the identity of the person detained when He was trying to enter Chile.

In recent years, Chile has suffered an increase in violent crimes, hand in hand with the arrival in the country of international organized crime gangs, such as the "Tren de Aragua", of Venezuelan origin.

Between 2014 and 2023, homicides increased by 60% in the South American country, rapes by 46%, and robberies with violence or intimidation by 11%, according to figures from the Center for Crime Studies and Analysis, dependent on the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention.