Chile Profile

Despite its proximity to cocaine-producing Andean countries, Chile has not suffered the negative effects of organized crime to the same extent as other nations in the region.

Today, it remains one of the safest nations in Latin America, but since the mid to late 2010s, Chile has seen an expansion of organized crime.

How Does Chile’s Geography Lend Itself to Organized Crime?

Chile’s shared borders with drug-producing and transshipment countries make it vulnerable to the threat of drug trafficking to Europe, North America, Africa, and Australia.

Many illicit shipments destined for international markets are moved into Chile across the country’s porous borders before being shipped out through ports along its 6,500-kilometer Pacific coast. The majority of the cocaine that enters the country comes from Bolivia, arriving via the northern regions of Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá, and Antofagasta. The northernmost port of Arica, which Chilean officials have somewhat limited oversight over due to a treaty with Bolivia, also serves as a major entry point for cocaine precursor chemicals passing into Bolivia. 

What Is Chile’s Organized Crime History?

After emerging from the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in 1990, Chile garnered a reputation as one of the most economically developed and stable countries in the region. It still has comparatively strong and independent institutions, relatively low levels of corruption, and consistently boasts homicide rates that are among the region’s lowest.

However, since the mid-to-late 2010s, organized crime has become an increasingly serious issue in the country, driving violence, including homicides. This has helped contribute to Chileans’ increased perception of insecurity even when it ranks as one of the safest countries in Latin America.

Strong institutions impeded the rise of powerful homemade crime groups in Chile. However, transnational criminal organizations have increasingly been engaging in various activities linked to the drug trade, human smuggling, and other criminal enterprises.

Trafficking into the country is often handled by Bolivian, Colombian and Peruvian organizations, at times in collaboration with local groups, although Chilean investigators have also identified the involvement of Brazilian and Mexican groups. 

In addition to serving as a transshipment point for cocaine, the discovery of multiple drug processing laboratories in Chile suggests the country’s role in producing the drug might be growing. Chile is a major regional supplier of precursor chemicals used in cocaine production.

Due in part to its robust economy, Chile has developed a substantial domestic drug consumption market, including for cocaine, although synthetic drugs such as ketamine have become more popular in recent years.
Chile also has a sizable domestic market for marijuana, which has been targeted by crime groups from Paraguay — South America’s main producer of marijuana — as well as Colombia, the source of a potent and lucrative type of marijuana known as “creepy.”

Chile has seen a massive increase in human smuggling and human trafficking cases since the mid-2010s, driven partly by the wave of Venezuelan migration. Many victims arrive in Chile under the belief they are being smuggled but end up being sexually exploited.

The arrival and expansion of factions of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua in the early 2020s also saw an explosion in the number of kidnapping cases, although Chilean and Colombian criminals also play significant roles in this criminal economy. Likewise, reported cases of extortion increased tenfold between 2017 and 2023.

Does Chile Have Its Own Criminal Groups?

Chile does not have any major homegrown crime groups with an international presence. However, criminal organizations based in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and other nearby countries have engaged in various illicit activities in the country.

None of Chile’s homegrown gangs can compete with the larger transnational groups that have arrived, such as the factions and splinter groups of Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua, whose criminal portfolios range from human smuggling and trafficking to kidnapping to retail drug sales and small-scale drug trafficking. Other transnational groups include the Colombian gangs the Shottas and the Espartanos, which have embedded themselves in extortion, “gota a gota” loan sharking, and retail drug sales markets, and the Peruvian gang the Pulpos, which primarily focuses on extortion.

International drug trafficking is often handled by Bolivian and Peruvian groups who sometimes collaborate with local organizations. Brazilian and Mexican drug trafficking organizations also send brokers to Chile to arrange deals and oversee cocaine shipments that pass through the country. European organized crime groups have also been linked to the country’s drug trade.

How Are Chile’s Security Forces Stuctured?

Chile’s two main public security bodies are the Carabineros, a national militarized police force formerly commanded by the Defense Ministry but managed by the Interior Ministry since 2011, and the Chilean Investigative Police (Policia de Investigaciones de Chile – PDI), a civilian police force responsible for investigating crimes, including drug trafficking and organized crime. Both the Carabineros and the PDI have internal intelligence agencies, as do Chile’s army, navy, and air force. Chile’s main intelligence body is the National Intelligence Agency (Agencia Nacional de Inteligencia – ANI).

Chile’s police and military have long ranked among the most trusted security forces in Latin America. Although trust in the Carabineros fell during and immediately after the period of social unrest in 2019 and 2020, it recovered in the years that followed. Corruption has also been a problem. Several Carabineros officers were arrested in 2013 for their alleged involvement in smuggling marijuana from Bolivia into Chile, leading to the firing of the anti-narcotics chief. More recently, military officials have been accused of coordinating and protecting drug shipments. In 2017, the Carabineros were implicated in a multimillion-dollar fraud scandal, which a Chilean prosecutor called “the biggest embezzlement in the history of Chile.” 

Chile’s Judicial System

Chile’s federal court system is overseen by the Justice Ministry (Ministerio de Justicia) and headed by the Supreme Court. The Attorney General’s Office (Ministerio Público) is responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes, as well as managing the country’s witness protection program. Regional courts hear criminal cases, and a Public Defender’s Office (Defensoría Penal Pública) provides free representation to the accused.

Compared to others in the region, Chile’s judicial system is widely perceived to be efficient, independent, and not corrupt. The World Economic Forum ranked Chile 35th out of 143 countries for judicial independence in 2025. However, surveys have found plummeting levels of trust in Chile’s judiciary.

Chile’s Prison System?

Chile’s prison system, administered by the Gendarmerie, suffers from overcrowding, operating at 150% capacity as of mid-2026. Chilean authorities have also identified corruption issues among the Gendarmerie, arresting 44 officials who had been working at 9 separate prisons in late 2025.