Four alleged members of the RML placed in pretrial detention for arson attacks, homicide, and robbery in Arauco

The court ordered pretrial detention for four alleged members of the Resistencia Mapuche Lafkenche (RML) organization, arrested during a large-scale police operation carried out in the commune of Cañete, in the province of Arauco. The defendants are being investigated for their possible involvement in various violent incidents that occurred in the area in recent years.

The accused, identified as Alexis Llanquileo Mariñan, Eduardo Donoso Tromelao, César Millanao Huenul, and Diego Lincopan Nahuelan, face charges for the crimes of arson, homicide, and robbery with intimidation. The Guarantee Court determined that their release poses a danger to public safety and set a four-month period for the development of the investigation.

The arrests were carried out following a series of raids conducted by the Investigative Police in different sectors of southern Cañete, procedures that are part of an investigation led by the Public Prosecutor's Office to clarify armed and arson attacks recorded in the province of Arauco.

One of the incidents included in the case occurred in September 2020 in the Laguna de Lloncao area, where an arson attack resulted in three houses destroyed and the death of a 20-year-old young man. For this case, two people had previously been convicted, receiving sentences totaling 28 years in prison.

However, investigative efforts continued to establish the involvement of other individuals. The joint work between specialized prosecutors and PDI units allowed for the gathering of new evidence that led to the recent arrests.

Additionally, one of the defendants is linked to another serious attack that occurred in the Los Ríos sector, where about twenty pieces of machinery were destroyed by fire and a worker was injured by gunfire during the armed action.

The regional prosecutor of Biobío, Marcela Cartagena, explained that in that investigation there were key audiovisual records to identify one of the suspects.

According to the prosecutor, the images showed a hooded and armed individual getting out of a vehicle to intimidate a truck driver during the attack. The scientific and technical analysis carried out by the PDI allowed for the establishment of his identity and subsequently his arrest.

The Public Prosecutor's Office highlighted that the investigation aims to dismantle structures linked to rural violence incidents that occurred in the province of Arauco and to determine the individual responsibilities of each of the defendants in the various attacks attributed to them.

With the precautionary measure of pretrial detention already decreed, the four accused will remain incarcerated while the procedures aimed at gathering evidence and fully clarifying the investigated facts proceed.