The four officers belonged to the Carabineros, the Chilean national police force. Among those arrested was the chief officer of the anti-drug force in Arica province as well as a police captain and two sergeants.
Law enforcement seized two shipments of marijuana in August and September totaling 1.1 tons of drugs. A Chilean district attorney declared that the group of officers was responsible for facilitating and financing the entire operation.
Authorities had been investigating the trafficking group since October 29, according to Chilean newspaper La Tercera.
Patricio López, the mayor of Arica and Parinacota, said that the corrupt officers did not reflect on the work authorities had done fighting the drug trade.
Following the arrests Gustavo Gonzalez, head of the Carabineros, reassigned Chile's anti-drug chief Carlos Hidalgo to a unit on missing persons and vehicles. InSight Crime reports that the move represents "Chile's tough stance on corruption compared to neighboring countries." The publication says that Chile has seen little drug trafficking relative to other Latin American nations.
Chile is tied for Uruguay for the lowest level of perceived corruption in a Latin American country according to Transparency International's latest Corruption Perception Index.
