Kidnappings, hitman killings, and timber theft: the Prosecutor's Office focus on organized crime in Bío Bío

Kidnapping, hitman killings, homicides, timber theft, extortion, and tracking the money trail are part of the investigations into organized crime in the Bío Bío region.

At least over the last 5 years, organized crime has changed in the country, and with it, so has the way in which different crimes of greater social significance are investigated.

This was stated by the head of the Specialized Organized Crime Unit of the national prosecutor's office, Ignacio Castillo, mentioning that over time the crime became more complex, noting kidnapping and hitman killings in the territory, linked to transnational gangs.

"More linked to violence, to territorial control (...) Chile, experiencing this change in organized crime, has had to face it."

Tren de Aragua and other criminal networks in Bío Bío

Networks such as Tren de Aragua, he said, exercise violent territorial control, associated with extortion and kidnapping among different criminal associations.

Castillo emphasized that the SACFI and ECOH teams of the Prosecutor's Office were strengthened to achieve the prosecution of defendants, especially in homicide cases.

"The Bío Bío region was no exception; we have investigations linked to the illicit trafficking of migrants, human trafficking (...) drug trafficking, which remains the most profitable business for criminal organizations."

The gangs are not only investigated for crimes, but also for economic activities illicitly controlled by the organizations, such as timber theft, copper exports, and aquaculture.

Source:BiobioChile