Chilean researcher assures that he did not publish all his material: "90% of stolen cars are in the possession of Bolivian authorities"

The Chilean investigator and director of the Search Group, Hugo Bustos, 90% of the stolen vehicles in his country are in the possession of Bolivian authorities, including the military and police, so he assures that it is difficult to recover them due to the corruption that exists.

Bustos was one of those who made the report on the recovery of a stolen Mitsubishi van in Chile, which supposedly was in the hands of Colonel Raúl Cabezas Pantoja, former head of the Uyuni Border Police. This journalistic note not only caused the dismissal of Cabezas, but also the arrest and the opening of criminal proceedings for four crimes against him.

In addition to the fact that the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, instructed the intervention of the Directorate for the Prevention and Investigation of Vehicle Theft (Diprove) and the change of destination of 100% of its staff, starting with the replacement of its two main authorities (director and deputy director); the new appointees will be sworn in this Wednesday.

Difficulty getting them back

Now Bustos assures that he did not show all the material he collected in Santa Cruz and other parts of Bolivia in his report, since he only collected what was related to the recovery of the van. He commented that if he showed all the evidence he has “it would have caused a bigger scandal”.

He pointed out that within the investigation he carried out he was able to detect that 112 motorcycles stolen in Chile were broughts illegally to the department of Santa Cruz and revealed that 90% of them are under the possession of authorities, including police and military.

“I would tell you that 89 or 90% (of those vehicles) They have them police, military, they are in use by Customs, of politicians; and the other small remainder, which is 10%, are people who buy these vehicles as ‘chutos’”, he told the Erbol network.

The researcher explained that there are three difficulties that robbery victims go through of the neighboring country that prevent, on many occasions, the recovery of their stolen motorcycles. The first has to do with the place where the vehicle is located, since there are Bolivian localities where you cannot enter due to the risk that exists.

The second is the most common inconvenience, which an authority has the car in his hands and that in many cases, they already find Bolivian license plates that have been illegally cloned. “If the vehicle is in the hands of the Police, (they) cannot report themselves to the Public Ministry, it is impossible,” he assured the Unitel network.

The last hurdle would be a bribewhich they call “bar”, which consists of paying between 50 and 300 dollars to be able to get a motorcycle stolen in Chile out of the country. He even points out that some Diprove police officers ask for an economic incentive to be able to return the vehicles.

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The Chilean investigator and director of the Search Group, Hugo Bustos, 90% of the stolen vehicles in his country are in the possession of Bolivian authorities, including the military and police, so he assures that it is difficult to recover them due to the corruption that exists.

Bustos was one of those who made the report on the recovery of a stolen Mitsubishi van in Chile, which supposedly was in the hands of Colonel Raúl Cabezas Pantoja, former head of the Uyuni Border Police. This journalistic note not only caused the dismissal of Cabezas, but also the arrest and the opening of criminal proceedings for four crimes against him.

In addition to the fact that the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, instructed the intervention of the Directorate for the Prevention and Investigation of Vehicle Theft (Diprove) and the change of destination of 100% of its staff, starting with the replacement of its two main authorities (director and deputy director); the new appointees will be sworn in this Wednesday.

Difficulty getting them back

Now Bustos assures that he did not show all the material he collected in Santa Cruz and other parts of Bolivia in his report, since he only collected what was related to the recovery of the van. He commented that if he showed all the evidence he has “it would have caused a bigger scandal”.

He pointed out that within the investigation he carried out he was able to detect that 112 motorcycles stolen in Chile were broughts illegally to the department of Santa Cruz and revealed that 90% of them are under the possession of authorities, including police and military.

“I would tell you that 89 or 90% (of those vehicles) They have them police, military, they are in use by Customs, of politicians; and the other small remainder, which is 10%, are people who buy these vehicles as ‘chutos’”, he told the Erbol network.

The researcher explained that there are three difficulties that robbery victims go through of the neighboring country that prevent, on many occasions, the recovery of their stolen motorcycles. The first has to do with the place where the vehicle is located, since there are Bolivian localities where you cannot enter due to the risk that exists.

The second is the most common inconvenience, which an authority has the car in his hands and that in many cases, they already find Bolivian license plates that have been illegally cloned. “If the vehicle is in the hands of the Police, (they) cannot report themselves to the Public Ministry, it is impossible,” he assured the Unitel network.

The last hurdle would be a bribewhich they call “bar”, which consists of paying between 50 and 300 dollars to be able to get a motorcycle stolen in Chile out of the country. He even points out that some Diprove police officers ask for an economic incentive to be able to return the vehicles.

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