A group of criminals at the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, the main one in Chile, starred in a shootout this Wednesday when they tried to rob an armored truck from the Brinks company, which contained 26 billion Chilean pesos, about 32 million dollars.
The victim is one of the guards of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC).
On the other hand, one of the assailants was killed.
The robbery was attempted by at least 12 criminals who encountered resistance from the personnel of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics which is in charge of airport security.
When the criminals tried to flee the place, they left four burned-out vehicles on the escape route.
Police authorities confirmed that the money could not be taken.
The assailants entered the air terminal threatening and beating one of the security officials, from whom they stole his firearm.
Immediately afterward, the criminals took three trucks to carry out the robbery, but they did not have the rapid reaction of the Civil Aeronautics personnel, so the exchange of shots began.
None of the Brink’s company workers were hurt and the company later regretted what happened and stated in a statement that its workers “followed all security protocols in the face of the assault and, fortunately, all of them were unharmed.”
Boric’s reaction
For his part, the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, referred to what happened at the airport in the capital of the country, expressing his solidarity with the relatives of the victim.
“By the way, I want to show solidarity and send a big hug to the family of the DGAC official,” said the president.
“Why am I mentioning this, because we know that security is a priority for Chilean men and women, and when there is insecurity, all the rest falters,” said President Boric.
“Today these two assaults could be frustrating, but at a very high cost, in human lives,” he lamented.
“I want you to know that our government is going to pursue tirelessly, with justice and with all the force of the right to crime and those who put the lives of our compatriots at risk,” he added.
“In this, I want to be very clear, those who have made a crime, intimidation, or organized crime, a space from which they believe that they can emerge, are very wrong,” said Boric.
“And our police officers, and also police officers, by the way, have our full support to face this terrible evil that afflicts not only our country,” he said.
Citizen surveys have been revealing a worrying rise in the perception of insecurity in Chilean society for months.
The Paz Ciudadana Foundation published last October that the fear of being a victim of a crime grew by 7.6%, reaching 28% nationwide, the highest figure in 22 years.
