Police Sergeant Arrested for Leading a Criminal Gang Behind Billion-Dollar Brinks Heist in Rancagua

Original article: Carabinera es detenida por liderar banda detrás de multimillonario robo a Brinks en Rancagua

The sergeant with 29 years of service has been dismissed from the Carabineros and will be formally charged this Friday. The heist, which took place in August 2024, involved a haul of over 12 billion pesos, of which only 200 million have been recovered.

A significant development in the investigation of the notorious heist at Brinks in Rancagua, which occurred in August 2024, has revealed a deep institutional breach: an active police sergeant, with nearly three decades of service, was arrested this Thursday for allegedly leading the criminal organization behind the multi-million dollar theft.

The detainee has been identified as First Sergeant Claudia Bustamante, 47, who served at the Diego Portales Substation of Carabineros. According to institutional sources and the Public Ministry, the officer is accused of being the mastermind behind the robbery that stole over 12 billion pesos from a Brinks branch on August 16, 2024.

The arrest was ordered after extensive investigative measures revealed connections between the officer and other suspects involved. The Undersecretary of Crime Prevention, Carolina Leitao, confirmed the arrest late in the evening.

“The police officer was arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into the robbery of a Brinks branch in August 2024,” Leitao stated.

She also mentioned that “specific details regarding this investigation cannot be disclosed, and the particulars of the arrest and its context will be presented during the detention hearing,” which is scheduled for this Friday at the Rancagua Guarantee Court.

Authorities added that “this investigation has been successful, and we anticipate that the relevant details will be shared tomorrow.”

Police Sergeant Dismissed

The sergeant, who had 29 years of service at the Diego Portales Substation, was immediately dismissed from the police force. Carabineros released an official statement indicating that the decision was made due to “serious breaches of professional ethics, constitutive of a crime, which are related to a robbery that impacted a security company in the Rancagua area.”

“Carabineros de Chile reiterates that such conduct is utterly incompatible with the values and principles governing institutional action; thus, stringent administrative measures are applied in line with a zero-tolerance policy against actions that undermine legality and integrity,” the police force declared.

21 Arrested in the Brinks Heist

The capture of Bustamante raises the total number of individuals arrested in relation to this case to 21, which has been dubbed the “new robbery of the century,” marking one of the largest heists recorded in recent Chilean history. Despite the high number of arrests, the recovery of the stolen assets has been minimal: to date, only a little over 200 million pesos have been found, money which was discovered buried in the Punta de Tralca area.

The remaining funds, approximately 11.8 billion pesos, remain missing, and investigations have yet to determine their whereabouts.

This Friday, Sergeant Bustamante, currently held at the First Police Station of Rancagua, will face the judicial system in a crucial hearing for the investigation’s progression. It is expected that the prosecution will present evidence linking her not only to the execution of the heist but also to the coordination and leadership of the criminal gang.