Chile: Hijackers kidnap trucker and steal £40,000 cargo of fish feed
The incident occurred between Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt, where the driver was intercepted. The criminals abandoned him in the Valdivia area, in the Los Ríos Region.
A truck driver was subjected to a violent hijacking and kidnap while heading south from the city of Osorno in Los Lagos region with his truck loaded with fish feed, according to the newspaper El Austral de Osorno.
According to his son, Francisco Pérez, Jaime Pérez left Osorno after 9:45 pm on Friday to deliver a load of 27.5 tonnes of feed.
Francisco recounted that they had met in Purranque when he was returning to Osorno with an empty load and his father was heading towards Puerto Montt. He later heard the beginning of the hijacking during a mobile phone conversation with his father.
"We were talking on the phone, I was already arriving in Osorno, when I heard screams and threats telling him to get out or they would kill him. That's when I knew something bad was happening to my dad. A few seconds later the call was cut off and I didn't hear from him again. Then, I called the highway police near Puerto Varas and reported what had happened. When they arrived at the scene, only the truck [remained]; the trailer and my father had disappeared," said the victim's son.
Regional alert
After confirming the robbery with violence, Carabineros personnel alerted the police units in the area, generating a regional alert. "At 6 in the morning, I was informed that they saw my father near the Santo Domingo bridge. Then we were alerted that he had appeared in Reumén, where he was taken by a person who gave him a ride on the road, thus ending his traumatic moments. [The robbers] hit him from the beginning and later in the vehicle to which he was taken by the armed criminals," Francisco Pérez told El Austral.
The incident is believed to have occurred around 11pm, when a truck and a car blocked the road and about six armed and violent individuals got out.
Subsequently, they unhooked the trailer, attached it to another truck, and fled to an unknown destination, taking the cargo valued at more than 50 million Chilean pesos (approximately US $50,000 / £40,000).
The victim of the hijacking, who has spent more than 26 years in the transport company "Casanova", had not faced such a situation before. According to his son, he was today due to go for a medical check-up and receive professional support to face what happened.
Condemnation
The Association of Truck Owners of Puerto Montt (Asoducam) condemned the hijacking and expressed its concern for driver safety.
"This criminal act not only represents a blow to the safety of our members and workers but also to the entire industry that depends on our operations," stated Asoducam president Erwin Monroy. "We strongly reject any form of violence and crime that puts the lives of our drivers and the continuity of our work at risk.
"From Asoducam, we make an urgent call to the competent authorities to investigate this serious incident, identify those responsible, and ensure safety on the region's routes. We cannot allow incidents of this nature to continue occurring and affecting the families and communities that depend on our work."
