Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) officials on Tuesday carried out a security operation that led to the dismantling of the Torren de Aragua human trafficking cell, which operated “just a stone's throw” from the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago.
The operation was led by personnel from PDI's Bittrap Human Trafficking Brigade. reportedly as a result The four Venezuelans arrested are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. Authorities also rescued a group of 12 women, reported to be victims of a human trafficking ring, who had been detained and forced into prostitution. A one-year-old child, believed to be the son of one of the trafficked women, was also rescued by Chilean police authorities, local reports said.
The four arrested were reportedly responsible for “coordinating and transporting these women to locations where they would provide sexual services” and collecting money from customers. The victims were forced to pay Torren de Aragua members 350,000 Chilean pesos (approximately $353) a week.
Chilean radio station Radio Bío Bío reported On Tuesday, it said the now-dismantled Torren de Aragua smuggling house was “within three blocks” of La Moneda, Chile's presidential palace, in the center of the capital, Santiago. The gang also operated a “torture center” not far from its headquarters.
The security operation stemmed from an investigation launched by Chilean authorities in October after the body of a 20-year-old Venezuelan man was discovered. Found He suffered burns and 15 gunshot wounds to the chest in Colina, a commune in the northern metropolitan area of Santiago. The body was found abandoned inside a suitcase, which was later set on fire.
Investigation revealed that both the deceased man and his killer were involved in the dismantled Tren de Aragua human trafficking and sexual exploitation cell.
“We report the arrest of four Venezuelan nationals, who may be members of the Torren de Aragua, who are believed to have actively participated in the murder of a 20-year-old man on October 5,” PDI said. Jorge Abbate, head of the National Crimes Against Persons Command, told reporters.
Sergio Soto, an official with Chile's public prosecutor's organized crime homicide team (ECOH), said the 20-year-old was killed for “violations of regulations” regarding the sexual exploitation of gang victims. The man is said to have been in a romantic relationship with one of the trafficked women.
For each of the four Venezuelan detainees, Soto added: be familiar withtook part in “the various stages leading up to the murder of this person, including inflicting 15 wounds on the chest and then transporting the body to the commune of Colina, where it was burned.”
The man is believed to have been killed at a torture center run by Torren de Aragua near his headquarters in central Santiago.
Abatte reportedly The murdered man explained that “the order was given for the death of some of these women because they did not have the authority to perform certain acts, primarily of a sexual nature.”
According to Radio Bío-Bío, the number of people detained may increase as both PDI and ECOH continue their proceedings.
Another Torren de Aragua human trafficking ring, consisting of 13 people, was dismantled by PDI authorities at the end of the year April. The smuggling organization successfully infiltrated the Chilean National Police and received direct information and cooperation from PDI personnel.
The cell reportedly houses at least 100 victims of sexual exploitation near Santiago's main square, Plaza de Armas, and operates in some of the city's historic buildings, where victims The suspects were said to have been “permanently monitored and controlled.”
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
