Armed Gangs Strip Metal From Chile’s Copper Train Wagons
Gangs in northern Chile are boarding moving copper train wagons and throwing metal slabs to accomplices, in tactics analysts call quasi-paramilitary. The post Armed Gangs Strip Metal From Chile’s Copper Train Wagons appeared first on The Rio Times .
Organized gangs in northern Chile are stealing metal from moving copper train wagons, according to Reuters. The attacks predominantly occur in isolated desert stretches, where a train can run for an hour without passing anything. The thieves do not stop the train, but rather jump onto moving wagons and physically push the metal off.
Each copper slab weighs approximately 80 kilograms, and accomplices collect them once the train has passed. The metal then moves into scrap channels and is exported through informal routes. The security analysts describe these groups as quasi-paramilitary due to their equipment, organization, and the use of firearms and bulletproof vests.
This shift from opportunistic theft to a more organized approach implies planning, financing, and a buyer waiting on the other end. The vast emptiness of northern Chile's Atacama Desert, with stretches having no settlements for hundreds of kilometers, renders policing these lines almost impossible. The mining companies and the police have not released a total value for the losses, which itself signals the extent of the problem.
The increase in organized metal theft in Latin America over the past five years can be attributed to the high price of copper, which attracts serious criminal capital.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
