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Extortion of Subcontractors, the New Crime Affecting Chile's Forestry Industry

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The manager of the Association of Forestry Contractors AG (Acoforag), René Muñoz, addressed a new crime facing the timber sector: extortion and unlawful charges imposed on subcontracted workers.

In a conversation with SABES, the executive discussed the security crisis affecting Chile's forestry industry. For years, timber theft was one of the most significant crimes in the country, which has declined recently. However, as Muñoz reveals, that is not the only concern.

According to Acoforag's representative, timber theft now exists "on a smaller scale, but there is another issue that must be addressed: extortion and 'toll payments' to work. It is a crime we have discussed with the Prosecutor's Office. Some forestry contractors have to pay to operate in certain locations."

The manager explained that "they extort in a way where 'you have to work, but you must pay a certain amount if you want to remove your timber.' That logic is emerging, which could explain the decrease in attacks, because it's easier to sit comfortably at the edge of your home and wait for a commission payment."

This criminal method is prevalent in other South American countries, raising concerns that it may be an imported behavior. However, Muñoz noted that for now, "we have no certainty of foreign involvement, but all methods get copied, and we're ultimately falling into the same pattern. So, it's like we no longer have attacks, but we have extortion. The forestry sector is becoming the general crime workspace nowadays."

Finally, René Muñoz lamented that this situation "pressures companies to say, 'There is no legal certainty here, we can't operate.' Additionally, there is a lack of institutional framework—no deforestation laws, no fire laws. All of this makes the forestry sector unattractive at present."

Source:Sabes