After eight months of investigation and dozens of complaints, detectives from the Investigative Police (PDI) this Tuesday beheaded a gang of fake taxi drivers who scammed tourists in the Santiago International Airportcharging them exorbitant sums of money for trips of no more than 20 minutes to hotels in the upper neighborhood. Nine people were arrestedbetween recruiters and drivers, who have already been formalized for the crimes of fraud, illicit association and money laundering.
“The sum that we managed to establish from the fraud reaches close to $100 million (USD 102 thousand) and also keep in mind that one of the people who was defrauded of the largest amount of money is equivalent to the sum of $9 million (more than USD 9 thousand)”reported Oscar Bacovichhead of the Eastern Prefecture, according to The Third
The operation included various raids in the capital’s communities, in which they also seized six vehicles, drugs, jewelry, cash and the famous payment machines with which they committed their crimes. However, a tenth person involved managed to escape and is still alive. fugitive
Regarding the role played by the detainees, the uniformed officer explained that “some of them were collectors, others of them drove the taxis and others were recipients of money“, hill.
And the scams at the Arturo Merino International Airport are daily bread, or more specifically, every night, as an official taxi driver explained months ago to the morning Your Day the T13. “The inspections are carried out during the day. And here at the airport they should also do them at night, especially on the street. Imagine, a lady here was charged USD 7 thousand from the airport to a hotel in the center”, he stated angrily on that occasion.
“The lady is a client of mine. I couldn’t come look for her and I sent a colleague. And it turns out that he didn’t have the patience and took one of the taxis posted here, which are not legal. And she called me on the phone, she told me that they had charged her credit card USD 7 thousand,” the driver said.
The taxi driver maintained that this phenomenon is “common” in the air terminal, since the inspectors “cannot enter the airport grounds. We don’t get anything out of carrying out an inspection during the day, because “They leave and then no man’s land begins here.”
Another taxi driver, interviewed by TVN, explained the way of working of these fake taxi drivers:
“His credit card was swiped two or three times, for $2.5 million each pass. In total they took $7.5 million (USD 7,700) from him,” he revealed.
It should be noted that the route from the Airport to the center of Santiago borders the $25 mil (USD 26), Therefore, it is most likely that the scammer told the tourist that the rest of the zeros were just decimals.
In March of this year, the Embassy of the United Kingdom In Chile he sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry denouncing the presence of fake taxi drivers at the Santiago Airport who had scammed British tourists.
“So far in 2024, three British citizens They have been victims of the crime of fraud by taking vehicles at the Santiago airport that claimed to be official taxis. However, it was a fraud in which the driver stole large sums of money, which would reach the $4 million (USD 4,200)”, they detailed.
The British government warned that the problem occurred even in official airport services and therefore recommended “book taxis only at the counter inside the airport before entering the arrivals hall.” In addition, they maintained that “it should be possible to reserve and pay in advance at these counters inside the airport. If this is not possible, request the approximate cost of the trip at the taxi counter.”
Also, they suggested being careful when reviewing the amount to be charged in cash and card, “including the number of zeros displayed on the screen.” Likewise, they urged people to book “taxis in advance instead of taking one on the street, especially late at night.”
“There are criminals who disguise themselves as licensed taxi drivers, including people who are inside the airport arrivals hall with laces and official-looking jackets”, they warned.
