Chile transfers nearly 300 high-risk inmates to new mega-prison amid security drive
The Chilean government moved about 295 dangerous prisoners to the newly opened La Laguna facility as President José Antonio Kast pushes a hard-line crime agenda.
On Thursday, Chile’s authorities shifted nearly 300 high-risk detainees to La Laguna Prison, a sprawling complex opened last year south of Santiago. President José Antonio Kast toured the site, framing the operation as a step toward easing prison congestion and curbing gang leaders’ ability to run operations from behind bars. The move involved 295 inmates, among them 37 identified as members of criminal organizations, with plans to add another hundred in the coming week.
La Laguna boasts over a dozen units, maximum-security wings, 1,500 cameras, body scanners and technology that blocks cellphone signals. Although the facility was launched under left-wing President Gabriel Boric, Kast has highlighted the Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele’s security model, which he studied during a visit to El Salvador. The transfer coincides with Kast’s broader legislative push for tougher penalties, expanded police presence in violent neighborhoods, and new powers to seize gang assets.
Why it matters
The mass transfer signals Chile’s intensified crackdown on organized crime and tests the impact of tough-on-crime policies.
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