A significant reduction in the most high-profile acts of violence is being recorded in the Macrozona Sur during 2026, according to the balance prepared by the Multigremial de La Araucanía. The report, which considers events occurring between January and August, counts 16 episodes, a figure considerably lower than that recorded during the same months of the two previous years.
The comparison shows a decrease of 60% compared to 2025 and 76% compared to 2024, according to the figures compiled by the business organization.
August contributed to maintaining this trend. During that month, a single episode was recorded: an arson attack that occurred on August 29 in the commune of Traiguén, where forestry machinery and two pickup trucks located on a property in the process of planting were destroyed.
La Araucanía maintains the highest number of episodes
Despite the drop in the total number of cases, the territorial distribution shows that violence continues to be concentrated mainly in La Araucanía.
Of the 16 events counted during the first eight months of the year, 12 occurred in this region, equivalent to 75% of the total for the Macrozona Sur. Malleco is the province that concentrates the highest number of episodes, with seven cases, while Biobío registers three.
The territorial concentration constitutes one of the elements that remain constant within the reduction scenario observed during 2026.
Regarding the nature of the crimes, the balance identifies 10 arson attacks, five armed attacks, and one homicide. Arson attacks show a decrease of 60% compared to the same period in 2025, while armed attacks fell 29%.
During the analyzed period, no frustrated homicides were recorded either.
Operations and detainees
The Multigremial report also focuses on police activity carried out during the year. Between January and August, nine operations were counted that ended with 18 people detained, in investigations related to violent crimes, weapons, fires, robberies, and other cases.
During August, two procedures allowed for the capture of individuals who were fugitives from justice.
The first occurred on August 10 in Carahue, where an individual linked to an investigation into an armed robbery that affected forestry workers was detained. The second procedure was carried out on August 19 in Tirúa, within the framework of an investigation related to the homicide of Manuel Huenupil and the crime of illegal possession of a weapon.
Weapons and ammunition seized in Quepe
Among the procedures highlighted by the report is also the one carried out on August 31 at the Quepe toll booth, where Carabineros detained two people under investigation for alleged arms trafficking.
According to the business balance, the operation allowed for the seizure of 9-millimeter caliber pistols of different brands, whose serial numbers had been erased, in addition to 21 magazines and ammunition.
The information recorded by the Multigremial indicates that the weapons would have entered illegally from Argentina, using an unauthorized crossing in the Curarrehue area.
The organization described this procedure as the largest weapons seizure recorded so far in La Araucanía and placed it among the main police events of the month.
The debate on the State of Emergency
Along with presenting the figures, the Multigremial states in its analysis that the decrease in acts of violence would be related, among other factors, to the prolonged application of the State of Emergency in the Macrozona Sur.
This is, however, an interpretation by the business organization based on the evolution of the records. The figures alone do not allow for establishing a definitive causal relationship between the continuation of this measure and the decrease in crimes.
The August balance thus leaves a scenario marked by a significant drop in the most high-profile episodes, although with a persistent territorial concentration in La Araucanía and, particularly, in the province of Malleco.
The evolution of the coming months will allow for determining whether this trend constitutes a sustained reduction in violence or corresponds to a one-time variation within a phenomenon that continues to affect different areas of the Macrozona Sur.
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