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The Mafia's Latest Tactic: Operation "Holy Salmon"

2024-12-14 22:18:17Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The Mafia's Latest Tactic: Operation "Holy Salmon"
The Mafia's Latest Tactic: Operation "Holy Salmon"

The mafia's latest tactic: salmon robbery. Fishing is big business in Chile. So is fish theft, writes The Economist

Dressed in HI-VIS jackets and heavy boots, the men in the CCTV footage appear to be ordinary employees of the place, until one pulls out a gun.

On March 20, at least ten men entered a cold storage facility in San Antonio, a port in central Chile, threatened employees with guns and made off with four trucks loaded with salmon, worth an estimated 600 million pesos ($616,000). Their plan quickly fell through. In April, police found some of the fish in San Felipe, a nearby municipality.

In August, 11 people were arrested in connection with the robbery. Officials in the investigation, dubbed “Operación Santo Salmón” (Operation Holy Salmon), believe the gang was planning to sell the fish during Lent, when Catholics abstain from meat and eat only fish.

Robberies have become a major problem for Chile's second-largest export business. Salmon farming brought in revenue worth about 6 trillion pesos and was responsible for about 70,000 jobs in 2023.

There were two robberies in 2018 alone, according to the SalmonChile association, which represents fish farmers in the country. Since then, the number has increased significantly.

Between 2019 and 2023, there were 158 salmon robberies, most of which targeted truckloads of fish. Many more are suspected to go unreported.

A wave of crime has hit the industry. The SalmonChile association estimates that losses since 2019 have reached more than 67 billion pesos. Companies are spending more on security and tracking devices. Truck drivers are afraid, as robberies sometimes turn violent.

Two drivers were kidnapped during robberies earlier this year. Many companies are avoiding the usual delivery routes in the south of the country. Some drivers have started wearing bulletproof vests.

Ricardo García of Salmones Camanchaca, a fish farming business, calculates that these additional expenses, along with losses, are costing the industry around 1% of gross operating profits each year.

There are several reasons why this type of crime has increased so much in recent times. The launch of a salmon truck, usually worth around 200 million pesos, has always been profitable.

But since domestic demand has increased by almost 20% between 2013 and 2020, perhaps the gangs have thought they can make more money than before by selling fish in local markets.

At the same time, the government's crackdown on timber theft may have encouraged "timber mafias" to target salmon shipments. Salmon thefts are most common in the Biobío region, which has long been among the most affected by timber theft.

Chilean lawmakers are starting to take action. The crime isn't just hurting business. Markets filled with stolen salmon, which has been stored (and sometimes processed) in questionable conditions, pose a public health risk.

Several members of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Chile's Congress, have proposed a bill (similar to laws targeting timber smugglers) that would make salmon poaching a crime with harsh penalties.

Mr. García says that thanks to closer coordination between businesses and the police, crime levels have decreased somewhat this year. So far, only 12 robberies have been recorded, down from 24 last year. For now, however, salmon theft is still very profitable for Chilean fish farm mafias.


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