A court in Pozo Almonte extended the detention of two Bolivian citizens, aged 31 and 43, arrested in Colchane for trying to fill a ditch from the Escudo Fronterizo plan using a backhoe. Carabineros caught them enabling unauthorized paths for smuggling. The machinery was seized and handed to Customs.
Carabineros' OS7 received information about heavy machinery in the Colchane border area, Tarapacá region. During a patrol, officers found an MF 750 backhoe without license plates, operated by the two Bolivians. One had prior smuggling records, according to Captain Hans Burdiles, Colchane's subcommissioner.
"The multidisciplinary team from OS7, OS9, and SEBV proceeded to detain two Bolivian nationals for vehicle smuggling," Burdiles explained. The backhoe was moving earth to create unauthorized paths, facilitating smuggling.
The Pozo Almonte Guarantee Court granted the prosecutor's request to extend detention until Thursday. This follows the Escudo Fronterizo plan, launched March 16, featuring a 3-meter-high, 3-meter-wide, 30-km-long ditch to be completed in 90 days to control irregular migration. Public Works Minister Martín Arrau visited the site on Saturday.
Deputies responded to the incident. Mario Olavarría (UDI) called it a "grave fact" needing swift investigation to identify those responsible and interests involved. Luis Malla (Liberal) noted the ditch's effectiveness against vehicle smuggling and warned of gangs entering with heavy machinery to traffic cars, drugs, weapons, and people.
