Court Orders Preventive Detention for Corruption Network in Operation Apocalypse

Original article: Justicia decreta prisión preventiva para red de corrupción en Operación Apocalipsis

The court established the existence of a criminal organization engaged in bribery and drug trafficking within prisons.

On Tuesday, December 30, the «Operation Apocalypse» reached a critical juncture during the formalization hearing at the 12th Guarantee Court of Santiago. During this session, the judiciary ordered preventive detention for 70 individuals, including 47 former Gendarmería officials, dismantling a network that operated with hierarchies and strategies within the correctional facilities.

At the end of the proceedings, Metropolitan Prosecutor Marcos Pastén expressed his total agreement with the ruling, highlighting that the court validated each piece of evidence presented. According to the prosecutor, the ruling is robust as it substantiates serious crimes such as bribery, corruption, organized crime, and money laundering.

The prosecutor emphasized the severity of the findings, stating that the correctional facilities had been diverted from their public function, as they were used «as a means to conduct illegal business, which is a criminal market,» he asserted, noting that the organization had a clearly defined command structure to control the supply and demand of prohibited benefits.

Regarding the involvement of the gendarmes, the prosecutor pointed out that «the court recognized a special aggravating circumstance for public officials,» explaining that all defendants were considered authors of the crimes, and that their freedom poses a real danger to societal safety.

Pastén also took the opportunity to commend the intelligence work that led to this outcome. He explained that the success of the operation was not coincidental but was the result of data tracking and the legal strategy coordinated for months by the PDI, the Internal Revenue Service, and the anti-corruption units alongside Gendarmería officials who assisted in the investigation.

Finally, regarding the future of those now detained, the prosecutor assured that the state must ensure that these patterns do not recur while they serve their detention: «We trust in the actions of the officials responsible for their custody. There is a clear awareness that these events, at least regarding these defendants, cannot happen again,» he concluded.