HomeNewsBriefMassive Liquid Cocaine Haul Points to Growth of Processing in Chile
BRIEF

Massive Liquid Cocaine Haul Points to Growth of Processing in Chile

BOLIVIA / 25 FEB 2014 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

Authorities in Chile have intercepted 500 liters of liquid cocaine from Bolivia allegedly destined to be converted to powder form in sophisticated drug laboratories in the country's capital, Santiago, signaling an apparent expansion of drug processing in the Southern Cone nation.

According to Emol, the Chilean Police Investigations unit (PDI) confiscated the shipment and dismantled a criminal network that processed cocaine for sale in the Santiago metropolitan area. The police operation resulted in 11 arrests. The leader and supplier of the group, who is believed to be residing outside Chile, is Bolivian, reported El Deber

The seizure of the cocaine -- which had been camouflaged as cooking oil -- followed two months of monitoring and investigations by Chile's Anti-Narcotics Brigade (BRIANT) and is one of the largest drug busts in the past 10 years in Chile. Police said the cocaine was trafficked down from Bolivia.

Police sources said at least two similar shipments of liquid cocaine were seized during investigations, reported Los Tiempos

InSight Crime Analysis

Though Chile is today considered one of the region's most transparent and crime free nations, cocaine production has a notable place in its history, with former dictator Augusto Pinochet alleged to have organized a massive cocaine production and distribution network in the mid-1980s as a source of revenue.

Today, Chile is generally identified more as a departure point for drugs heading overseas, with a recent 1.4 ton shipment of cocaine seized in France originating in Chile's biggest port, Valparaiso. While cocaine production in communities along the border between Chile and Bolivia has been reported, processing in Chilean urban centers is not a well-documented phenomenon. 

Just as processing on the border has been linked to Chile's growing domestic demand, this latest development could be a case of criminals seeing greater profit or lesser risk by shifting processing operations closer to this market. The sheer size of the cocaine shipment, however, begs the question of whether all of it was destined for internal consumption, or whether some was intended for export.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Chile

What the discovery of cocaine processing in Santiago -- more than 1,000 kilometers from the Bolivian border -- does suggest is that criminal networks are increasingly upping their presence in the country, a trend the government has been attempting to combat in recent years.  

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 6 JUL 2022

Tusi, a pink synthetic drug powder, is increasing its share of Latin America's drug markets.

BOLIVIA / 25 JUL 2022

Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, has gradually become one of South America's main criminal threats, with Chile its latest target.

BOLIVIA / 4 FEB 2022

The US indictment of Bolivia's former anti-narcotics chief on drug and weapons charges means he could possibly be extradited to…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…