Crime in Chile is investigated by the Chilean police. However, unlike the majority of Latin America, criminal activity in Chile is low, making Chile one of the most stable and safest nations in the region. Various analysts and politicians concur that in the 2020s crime in Chile is on the rise to levels similar to the rest of Latin America. Increased murder rates and

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...

are attributed by some to

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, wi ...

, others attribute the rise of crime more generally as the result of increased globalization.

Crime by type

Murder

In 2012, Chile had a murder rate of 3.1 per 100,000 population. There were a total of 550 murders in Chile in 2012. In 2017, the

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French language, French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention ...

informed a rate of 4.3 intentional homicide rate per 100,000 population.

Corruption

As of 2006, there were isolated reports of government

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

in Chile. Transparency International's annual

Corruption Index The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index that scores and ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as assessed by experts and business executives. The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entr ...

recorded that the Chilean public perceived the country as relatively free of corruption.

Domestic violence

Violence against women was prevalent across all classes of Chilean society until 1994.Culliton, K. M. (1994, January). Legal remedies for domestic violence in Chile & the US--Cultural relativism, myths & realities. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law . As of the early 1990s, it was reported that domestic violence affects about fifty percent of the women in Chile. The Intrafamily Violence Law passed in 1994 was the first political measure to address violence in the home, but because the law would not pass without being accepted by both sides, the law was weak in the way it addressed victim protection and punishment for abusers.Haas, Liesl (2010). Feminist Policymaking in Chile. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. The law was later reformed in 2005. In 2019, amid the ongoing Catholic sex abuse crisis in Chile, non-retroactive legislation was passed removing the statute of limitations for trying people for committing sex abuse against children in Chile.

Theft of ore

Theft of ore from mines have occurred on different scales in Chile. Theft of copper cathode has been carried out both during its transport by train and inside the properties of the mining companies. Theft of copper cathode and gold concentrate have since the mid-2010s been done increasingly by means of

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

. Most

illegal mining in Chile Illegal mining is a concern in Chile. As of 2025 it was considered to be on the rise but still far below the levels of neighbouring countries like Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In 2024 there were 20 formal complaints of illegal mining before t ...

is deemed equivalent to small-scale theft of ore from prospects or closed mines. An instance of systematic large-scale theft occurred between 2011 and 2014 when an estimated US$10.4 million (as of 2016) worth of

copper concentrate Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ...

were unloaded during transport and replaced by

tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...

and concrete debris. The ore concentrate originated from

Escondida Escondida is a copper mine at elevation in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta Region, Chile. Geology The Escondida deposit is one of a cluster of porphyry coppers in an elongated area about 18 km north–south and 3 km east–west ...

mine and was destined to Potrerillos copper smelter following an agreement between Minera Escondida and

Codelco The National Copper Corporation of Chile (), abbreviated as Codelco, is a Chilean state-owned mining company and the largest copper mining company in the world. It was formed in 1976 from foreign-owned copper companies that were nationalised in 1 ...

. The companies Confinor, Minex and ENAMI were investiaged for

possession of stolen goods Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods. In many jurisdictions, if an individual has accepted possession of goods (or property) and knew they were stolen, then the individua ...

related to the disappeared ore.

Historical crime

Banditry and piracy

During the 19th and early 20th century banditry was widespread in Araucanía and

Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaí ...

References

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