Pending the final review by the Comptroller’s Office, in the next few days the new law will be published in the Official Gazette that sanctions and classifies wood theft as a serious crime, which empowers the Public Ministry and the police to confiscate trucks transporting stolen wood.
The regulations also establish the obligation of drivers to travel with electronic guides, so that the legality of the origin of the wood can be corroborated in each inspection. In addition, it considers the elaboration of a regulation that has a term of four months for its creation, due to a transitory article regarding the use of electronic guides.
The new law was enacted after the signature of Vice President Carolina Tohá and the Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, who acted as Deputy Interior Minister, due to the absence of President Gabriel Boric due to his tour in the United States.
In this regard, Monsalve said that this regulation “increases penalties, allows the confiscation of what is used in the context of the crime of wood theft. I am talking particularly about vehicles, trucks, machinery; and it also allows the use of techniques investigative specials.