Chile's Public Security Minister Martín Arrau Leads Joint Police Operation in Alto Hospicio
On the night of June 7‑8, 2026, Chile’s Minister of Public Security, Martín Arrau, headed a massive inter‑institutional operation in the “toma” El Boro sector of Alto Hospicio, Tarapacá. Police forces—including the PDI, Carabineros’ Centauro unit and the Agricultural and Livestock Service—carried out intensive migration controls, vehicle inspections and searches for fugitives with active arrest warrants. Arrau said, “we are closing the day, Saturday night, in the emblematic take of El Boro… it is very important not to normalise the lack of rule of law in parts of our country.”
The operation followed a coordinated night‑time sweep in the nearby commune of Huara and was accompanied by a prison raid at the Alto Hospicio penitentiary. Early on Sunday, Gendarmería agents, together with police, searched modules 44 and 45 of the complex, which houses 569 inmates, aiming to curb criminal organization inside the prison. The minister emphasized the goal of restoring state authority, public order and security in the vulnerable northern neighborhoods.