Three suspects arrested in brutal murder of police officers that shocked Chile

Chilean authorities arrested three suspects involved in the murder of three carabineros which occurred in April and shocked the country, the Prosecutor’s Office reported on Monday.

The three suspects were arrested in the early hours of the morning thanks to simultaneous operations in the southern city of Cañete and in the commune of Huechuraba, in the Metropolitan Region, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

“This is a very important step in this investigation because we have gathered enough information at this point to allow us to formulate charges,” explained the regional prosecutor of La Araucanía, Roberto Garrido, who is leading the investigation.

The triple murder of Sergeant Carlos Cisterna and Corporals Sergio Arévalo and Misael Vidal, whose bodies were found charred on April 27 by firefighters inside a police vehicle, has plunged Chile into mourning and its clarification has become a priority for both the government and Congress.

The crime, unusual in the country, shocked the population due to its brutality, which is unusual despite the fact that it took place in the so-called southern macro-zone of Chile, a region in a state of emergency since 2022 and marked by conflicts between organized crime, landowners, the Mapuche and the police.

The authorities have not yet indicated the possible causes of the crime.

Speaking to reporters, national prosecutor Ángel Valencia expressed his optimism about the possible results of the arrests and added that there is “solid evidence to prove” that the three suspects “are the perpetrators of this crime.”

After learning of the arrests, the Minister of the Interior and Security, Carolina Tohá, said that she went to the place of the arrests.

“We appreciate the hard work of the Chilean police and the regional prosecutor’s office in locating the perpetrators of this gruesome crime. They must receive the harshest sentences for this act, which terrified our compatriots and filled us with pain,” he said through his X account, formerly Twitter.

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