Chilean TikTok reporter arrested for intercepting police radio

Jorge Mario Garrido, a 63-year-old social media personality known as ‘Viejo Chico’ and the creator of the ‘VivoNoticias’ TikTok and Instagram accounts, has been placed in pretrial detention in Chile. Authorities allege that Garrido used unauthorized police radio equipment to intercept confidential communications from the Carabineros de Chile.

Investigators claim this illegal access allowed Garrido to arrive at high-profile crime scenes—including a quintuple homicide in Lampa and the discovery of Ronald Ojeda’s body in Maipú—ahead of traditional media outlets and law enforcement units. During a search of his home in the Lo Espejo municipality of Santiago, the OS9 unit of the Carabineros seized a portable Motorola radio belonging to the police, along with other official items such as a crime-scene evidence marker.

The Ministry of Public Safety has filed a formal criminal complaint against Garrido. He faces charges including the illicit interception of telecommunications, receiving unauthorized computer data, and the use of prohibited devices capable of intercepting signals. Prosecutors also noted his use of a WhatsApp group to distribute information obtained through these means.