crime
May 8, 2026
Chile on alert over extortionate kidnappings by Tren de Aragua and its factions
Hassel Barrientos (Concepción, 50 years old), deputy prefect and head of the Special Antisecuestro Investigations Brigade (BIPE) of the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI), led the investigation that allowed the release, on April 29 and after a tense 180 hours, of the 84-year-old hardware businessman, Jorge Vera, kidnapped in Santiago. It is a case in which five people were quickly arrested. Of these, four are foreigners, linked to Tren de Aragua, and the fifth, arrested this Tuesday, is a Chilean who acted as a guard. In the same week, a Peruvian woman, also a merchant, was the victim of this same crime, committed by four criminals, two Chileans and two Venezuelans, who have already been captured.
TL;DR
- Chile is experiencing a rise in extortionate kidnappings, with recent cases involving businessmen, not previously linked to criminal activities.
- Authorities attribute this trend to the expansion of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua and its factions operating in Chile.
- The PDI has noted a doubling of kidnapping statistics since the emergence of Tren de Aragua, with a particular increase in extortionate kidnappings.
- The kidnapping and murder of Piero Rizutti in 2021 is considered a turning point, revealing the spread of transnational criminal groups to Santiago.
- Chilean police are adapting investigative techniques and strengthening international cooperation to combat these new forms of organized crime.
- The BIPE has dismantled several factions linked to Tren de Aragua, such as Caracas, Clandestinos, La Hermandad, and Los Piratas de Aragua.
- There is evidence that these factions receive instructions from outside Chile, and the strategy is evolving to target foreign leaders.
- Notable arrests of Tren de Aragua leaders abroad, at Chile's request, include Larry Álvarez, Carlos Gómez, Luis Carrillo, and Adrián Gámez Finol.