Preventive Detention for PDI Officials Charged with Criminal Association, Drug Trafficking, and Customs Violation in Santiago

Original article: Santiago: Prisión preventiva para funcionarios PDI imputados por asociación criminal, tráfico y receptación aduanera

The First Guarantee Court of Santiago has ordered the preventive detention of Felipe Burgos Gallardo, Catalina Cáceres Cáceres, Cristóbal Machuca Padilla, Diego Muñoz Pineda, Jaime Urrutia Rodríguez, Shiara Hernández Rocha, Agustín Moreno Guidotti, and Sebastián Illanes Cifuentes. These individuals have been charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as perpetrators of crimes including criminal association, drug trafficking, embezzlement of public funds, forgery of public documents, smuggling, and customs violation, taking place since 2024 in the Metropolitan Region.

During the formal hearing (case role 2799-2025), Judge Fernando Guzmán ordered the eight defendants to be placed in preventive detention, ruling that their freedom poses a danger to societal safety and jeopardizes the integrity of the investigation. Furthermore, a 180-day investigation period was established.

According to the prosecuting entity, between 2024 and 2025, an organized group of police officials, including a civilian, operated within the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Puente Alto of the Investigations Police of Chile, engaging in various crimes to achieve economic gains.

«This group consisted of several sub-commissioners, inspectors, a sub-inspector, and a police agent, who are alleged to have coordinated with a civilian to shield and protect their illicit activities. The officials reportedly exploited their hierarchical positions, roles, and access to institutional resources to act in concert,» stated the prosecution.

Among the illicit activities perpetrated by the criminal association were the appropriation of funds under custody or proceeds from police operations, falsification of public documents to facilitate this appropriation, retention of parts of seized cigarettes for personal profit, and the appropriation and trafficking of illegal substances.

El Ciudadano