Video shows organized gasoline thefts troubling Antofagasta
- Security videos and resident complaints in Antofagasta prompted Deputy Sebastián Videla to denounce gasoline thefts from parked cars, especially around Nicolás Tirado, on April 27. - Videla said one Nicolás Tirado resident filled a vehicle tank, then found it empty the next day, with videos suggesting a specialized band. - The complaints come as fuel prices remain a pressure point for households in northern Chile. (diarioantofagasta.cl)
Residents in Antofagasta are reporting thieves siphoning gasoline from parked cars, and Deputy Sebastián Videla says videos point to a band operating across the city. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (portalantofagasta.cl) Videla said on April 27 that he had received multiple complaints in recent days, with repeated reports from the Nicolás Tirado sector and other neighborhoods in the regional capital. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (portalantofagasta.cl) His most specific example was a resident who said he had filled his vehicle’s tank in Nicolás Tirado and found it empty the following day. Videla said images from the area support the complaints. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (portalantofagasta.cl) Antofagasta TV reported the same allegation as a “new method of theft,” with Videla describing a group that would be moving through different parts of the city targeting fuel in private vehicles. (antofagasta.tv) The immediate issue for victims is practical as much as criminal: a driver can leave a car overnight with fuel and wake up unable to use it the next morning. Videla tied that loss to the cost of filling a tank at current gasoline prices. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (portalantofagasta.cl) Videla said he would place the complaints and video records at the disposal of police and urged other victims to file reports directly with law enforcement. Portal Antofagasta said he also planned to take the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (portalantofagasta.cl) The public evidence remains limited to local media reports summarizing Videla’s statements and the existence of security footage; none of the reports reviewed identified arrests, named suspects, or described a police case number. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (antofagasta.tv) (portalantofagasta.cl) For now, the story in Antofagasta is a local warning backed by videos, repeated complaints, and one lawmaker’s call for a formal investigation into fuel thefts from parked cars. (diarioantofagasta.cl) (portalantofagasta.cl)
