The Investigative Police (PDI) arrested three men in the Metropolitan and Biobío regions. They are being investigated for their alleged involvement in acquiring and distributing child sexual exploitation and abuse material. During the raids, detectives found more than 5,000 files of this material stored by one of those under investigation.
According to T13, the arrests were made as part of Operation Confluence. Interpol, the international police cooperation organization, coordinated the operation, which resulted in 95 people arrested in 17 countries.
Those arrested are two Chilean citizens and a Venezuelan, all adults. The PDI's Sexual Offenses Investigation Brigade (Brisex) received information from two independent investigations, one in Spain and another in Colombia.
Commissioner Nicolás González Ramírez, of Metropolitan Brisex, explained that the two Chileans were identified in the case linked to Spain. Both distributed files through instant messaging applications. One of them had a record of sexual abuse against a minor under 14 in the Metropolitan Region.
The investigation linked to Colombia led to the arrest of the Venezuelan citizen, who has legal immigration status in Chile. According to the PDI, he bought this material on the so-called dark web, a restricted-access part of the internet, and paid with cryptocurrencies.
Police stated that the three had no ties to one another, although they participated in different messaging groups where the content circulated. They were arrested in the act, meaning when officers found the stored material during searches of their homes.
Operation Confluence included four simultaneous operations between March and September 2026. According to the Interpol report released by the PDI, 127 search warrants were executed and a child or adolescent was rescued in Colombia. Of those arrested, 89% are men and 11% women.
Police from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Uruguay participated.
The sources do not report the exact date of the arrests in Chile, the prosecutor's office in charge or the case number (RUC, the Unique Case Reference). Nor do they say whether the three have already appeared at a detention review hearing, the first proceeding at which a judge reviews whether the arrest was lawful. When that hearing takes place, the Public Prosecutor's Office may formally notify them that they are under investigation and request precautionary measures such as pretrial detention.
