Santiago's Seventh Guarantee Court imposed preventive detention on 17 out of 18 defendants linked to a Chinese mafia in the Meiggs neighborhood, as part of Operation 'Eastern Wall'. The accused face charges including drug trafficking, criminal association, and money laundering, among others. The involved former carabinero was also sent to prison.
The formalization hearing began after 10:30 a.m. in room D101 of Santiago's Seventh Guarantee Court, with the defendants arriving from the Santiago 1 penitentiary facility. One detainee appeared virtually from Copiapó. The 18 formalized individuals are: Renhe Peng, Shugui Yang, Chao Liu, Shengke Teng, Zhicheng Du, Chen Wen, Xingzhozg Jiang, Huan Tao, Wenchuang Jin, Xingwang Cai, Hui Chen, Qiuru Zhang, Gabriela Rivera Melgar, Fang Chen, Jiawen Wen, Qian Chen, Guosheng Chen, and Gonzalo Andrés Hernández Salinas, a former carabinero.
The North Central Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office, led by prosecutor Alfredo Cerri, charged most with illicit association, extortionate kidnapping, asset laundering, and drug trafficking. The former carabinero faced additional charges of secret disclosure and repeated bribery. These defendants were captured in Operation 'Eastern Wall', which involved raids on 63 properties in the communes of Santiago, Estación Central, Quinta Normal, and Providencia. Of the 30 total detainees—27 Chinese, two Chileans, and one Bolivian—18 were placed at the Prosecutor's Office disposal: 16 Chinese, one Chilean, and one Bolivian.
The court ordered preventive detention for 17 defendants: ten for flight risk and seven for danger to public safety. For the first ten, an option of a 7 million peso bail was offered, subjecting them to national arraigo, nighttime arrest, and biweekly check-ins. The court granted 180 days for the investigation.
Prosecutor Cerri explained: “All defendants are in preventive detention, except one, who was only for ammunition possession, which had a lower penalty.” Regarding the restaurant on Echaurren street, used as a meeting place, he added: “At the time of entry and search, 10 people were detained [...] That does not necessarily make them participants in the criminal organization, but responsible for the crimes they have been charged with.” Cerri ruled out that the operation had completely dismantled the mafias: “One can never say that something ends [...] it is a phenomenon that we must keep in sight and, therefore, prevention activities must be maintained.”