Carabineros arrested four people for selling contraband cigarettes in the municipalities of Lo Prado and Estación Central, in the Metropolitan Region. The operation began with a fight at the intersection of Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins and Avenida Las Rejas. It ended with the seizure of 2,180 packs valued at around $7,630,000.
According to T13, officers from the 44th Carabineros Police Station in Lo Prado received an alert from the municipality's camera monitoring center about an assault at that intersection. The sources do not specify the date or time of the incident.
According to police information, a man tried to buy cigarettes from a group of individuals. In his account, a disagreement over payment led to an assault against him. For now, this is the victim's account as recorded by Carabineros.
The officers arrived at the scene and followed those involved, who tried to escape toward the area south of the Alameda. A few meters from the scene of the incident, they arrested two of them: a 34-year-old Peruvian citizen and a 22-year-old Chilean.
Two others continued fleeing and entered a home in Estación Central. Officers from the Police Investigation Section (SIP) of the 44th Police Station entered the property under circumstances of flagrante delicto. That is, without a prior court order, because they were pursuing people caught allegedly committing a crime. There they arrested two Peruvian citizens aged 26 and 22.
During the search of the house, officers found bags containing contraband cigarettes of various brands. They also seized 186 boxes of unregulated medicines, mobile phones and cash. The sources do not report the amount of money.
According to the institution, the items were photographed and collected in accordance with police procedure. This means they were documented in photographs and removed as evidence.
The case is at the arrest stage. The sources do not report whether the four detainees have already appeared at a detention review hearing, where a judge examines the legality of the arrest, or whether the Prosecutor's Office has formally notified them of the allegations under investigation. The case number, the health of the man who was assaulted and the specific charges the Public Prosecutor's Office might bring are also unknown.
