Chinese mafia operating in Chile, dedicated to drug trafficking, has been dismantled

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “We are dealing with an organization that has the same characteristics as the Chinese mafia,” said the PDI (Chilean Investigative Police) after the arrest of 13 people. The PDI and the Metropolitan South Prosecutor’s Office have dismantled a Chile-based criminal organization cataloged by police to the Chinese mafia.

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Nine Chinese nationals are accused of indoor drug trafficking and are believed to be the first Chinese criminal organization to be dismantled in the country.

According to the prosecutor of the Southern Metropolis, Héctor Barros, 13 people were arrested, “9 Chinese nationals and the rest of other nationalities involved in this organization.”

“Aside from a large amount of money – we are talking about more than 480 million pesos (US$615,000) in cash and other goods – we are most interested in the seized narcotics, which are specifically out of circulation in our jurisdiction, the Southern Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office because we know that the sale and marketing of narcotics are linked to other crimes,” he added.

“There has been an investigation that makes it possible to establish that (these) Chinese nationals come to our country, where they create companies, legal companies, which is one of the characteristics for the development of these mafias. Then, with a place where they grew and harvested cannabis sativa, which had a much higher quality than what we all know because this drug harvest was subjected to a specific process, for that these structures had people guarding the places,” he added.

He also pointed out the difficulties in the investigation due to the dialect and language of those involved. “Just like these large criminal structures, they had a place where the leaders of this organization met to consume drugs and alcohol, where prostitution took place and where crimes were committed,” added Muñoz, who stressed that “we are talking about an organization that has the same characteristics as the Chinese mafia works.”

“There are seized weapons, other types of drugs (such as) cocaine hydrochloride, cocaine base, ecstasy, and a competition of crimes associated with this structure,” added the head of the PDI.