The North Central Prosecutor’s Office will formalize this Tuesday the only person detained for the theft of weapons from an Army institute, a civilian employee of the same agency.
Today a civilian employee of the Army Research and Control Instituteas allegedly involved in the theft of more than 50 firearms from the military compound of the commune of Santiago. He will be charged with the crimes of illicit arms trafficking and robbery in an uninhabited place.
It was in the early hours of yesterday that this unusual robbery took place in the offices of the entity located on Pedro Montt Avenue.
According to the first information, the guard of this compound would have received a call supposedly from the director of the institute, requesting that weapons from the test bench be delivered to people who minutes later arrived in a car.
In total, the criminals took 52 CZ 9 millimeter pistols, which were waiting for their certification to be transferred to different armories. What’s more, four other particular weapons they were stolen, one of them even taken from the director’s safe.
After the delivery ordered by the alleged director, a member of the guard called the superior to confirm the order, at which time the deception was exposed.
After filing the complaint, Carabinieri was appointed to investigate the case, background information that was exposed by Major Gorka Verde, from the Second Central Santiago Police Station.
alleged implicated
Through a statement, the Institute of Investigations and Control of the Army indicated that in the midst of the first inquiries, a civilian employee who raised suspicion was arrested and gave a statement before the Prosecutor’s Office and the Police OS9.
According to the agency, said defendant would have facilitated the removal and delivery of the weapons to a criminal organization, this being detected by guard personnel.
The Army document argued that the records were reported to the courts of justice, both in the Public ministry with the purpose of determining the responsibilities of civilian personnel in this serious crime and to the Military Prosecutor’s Office in order to establish the possible participation of institutional personnel.
The Minister of Defense, Maya Fernández, classified what happened as very serious, assuring that it must be clarified as soon as possible.
Gustavo Breuel, owner of the Latco armory, came to the military compound to try to confirm if the stolen weapons were his property. Not having an answer, the gunsmith said he was surprised how this robbery might have happened, considering in his opinion that there are important controls both in the delivery and certification of weapons.
The investigation is currently being carried out by prosecutor Tania Sironvalle, head of the Central North Criminal Analysis Prosecutor’s Office. She determined that the civil official go to detention control today for the alleged authorship in the crimes of arms trafficking and robbery in an uninhabited place.
The Army, meanwhile, opened a summary to clarify possible administrative responsibilities.