A police operation carried out in the early hours of Wednesday in the Temucuicui community, in the commune of Ercilla, resulted in five arrests, including members of a family clan investigated for vehicle thefts and attacks on Route 5 South.
More than 100 Carabineros officers, including personnel from Control de Orden Público, GOPE and OS9 Araucanía, carried out the operation around 4:30 a.m. on May 6. The raids focused on three homes inside Temucuicui and one in the urban area of Ercilla.
Those detained were identified as Aliwenko Queipul Huenchullan, 18, his mother Rosa Huenchullan, 45, and his father Luis Queipul, 55. Two other people were arrested for drug offenses committed in flagrante delicto. Two fugitives, including twin brother Aukaman Huenchullan, remain at large.
The investigation by the La Araucanía Prosecutor’s Office, launched in August 2025, links the group to violent thefts of pickup trucks in Collipulli and roadblocks on Route 5 South. Regional prosecutor Roberto Garrido said the operation demonstrates the rule of law in the region.
President José Antonio Kast stated that “the State will do what it must, in the place it must” and added that “some things are done, not announced.” This was the first police incursion into the heart of Temucuicui in nearly three years.
