Chile copper thieves are thwarting security measures on mine trains

Reuters | September 3, 2026 | 

AI-generated stock image by By Sawaratch.

Gangs raiding copper trains across Chile’s remote Atacama Desert are growing bolder and more tactically sophisticated, breaching anti-theft protections that had worked for years, miner Antofagasta Plc (LON: ANTO) warned in a memo reviewed by Reuters.

The copper miner and rail operator ​sounded the alarm in a meeting with authorities this year.

Chilean prosecutors say some thieves jump from trucks onto rail cars crossing isolated stretches of desert, toss 80-kilo copper ‌slabs from moving trains to waiting gang members and then escape into the desert. Others use hook lines to pull entire stacks of copper from slowed trains.

The stolen copper is sold to illegal scrap yards, melted down to remove identifying markers and shipped abroad, often disguised as scrap cargo to destinations like China.

“Today, copper cathode theft in railway transport represents a direct risk to worker safety, mining operational continuity and protection of a strategic logistics chain for the northern part of ​the country,” Antofagasta said in the memo, prepared in May for Chile’s security ministry as follow-up to a March meeting with former Security Minister Maria Trinidad Steinert.

Copper is critical to manufacturing ​and fast-growing markets for electric vehicles and renewable energy. The scale of robberies remains modest compared to monthly exports by one of the world’s largest ⁠copper producers, which reached $5.37 billion in July. Yet any escalation of copper theft is still a problem in Chile, whose economy relies on exports of the red metal and which supplies roughly a quarter of the world’s copper.

Antofagasta’s ​subsidiary Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia (FCAB) operates about 700 km (435 miles) of railway used to move copper from its own mines as well as operations run by rivals to ports.

The thefts occur in lonely parts ​of northern Chile, where trains haul copper cathodes across mile after mile of desert terrain with limited nearby infrastructure or communications coverage.

Antofagasta did not respond to a request for comment to provide further details.

Picking up pace

The pace of robberies is accelerating. Antofagasta reported 86 robberies last year, more than double the 39 train heists local media logged in 2022. In the first four months of 2026, thieves had already struck 34 times, stealing 169 metric tons, equal to 71% of what was ​taken in all of 2025.

One repeated target is the train carrying copper from state-owned Codelco’s Chuquicamata mine. Antofagasta said it was hit dozens of times last year, with thieves making off with $2.4 million worth of ​the red metal.

The rail operator has since budgeted nearly the same amount to install an anti-theft cage and assign a security crew to the line.

Cages bolted onto train cars were the firm’s “most effective control” against the desert heists, ‌Antofagasta said. But ⁠attacks have recently become more brazen, according to the firm.

In early 2026, a train outfitted with a cage carrying ore from Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE: FCX) El Abra mine was hit twice in two weeks, Antofagasta said.

“This demonstrates a higher level of adaptation, coordination, sophistication and risk appetite on the part of the gangs,” the train operator said.

Copper cargo is typically insured during transit, limiting financial losses. But the company said its workers are also in danger. Criminals escaping with copper this year pelted the operators of one train with rocks.

Copper smuggling crackdown

Security analysts say gangs have evolved into quasi-paramilitary operations, well-equipped with firearms and bulletproof vests.

In April, authorities dismantled ​a major copper-smuggling ring that had allegedly moved an ​estimated $917 million worth of the red metal ⁠out of the country from 2020 to 2025. The operation was the first major bust under President Jose Antonio Kast, who took office in March vowing to crack down on crime.

At the time, then-Deputy Minister of Public Safety Andres Jouannet promised quick progress on combating copper theft, vowing to set up working groups ​to tackle the issue. He was replaced in early June.

The ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the working groups, or on any ​actions taken following the ⁠office’s meeting with Antofagasta.

Codelco and Freeport-McMoRan, both targeted by the thefts, did not respond to requests for comment.

Legislators have pledged to tackle the issue. But even as robberies have ramped up, a bill that would make copper theft a specific criminal offense has stalled in the lower house since clearing the Senate in 2024.

Several lawmakers on the house mining committee did not respond to requests for comment.

Kast has pushed for tougher powers to ⁠combat crime, proposals ​which have faced resistance in Congress. But he has also framed security improvements as an economic necessity for mining companies ​currently forced to shoulder mounting protection costs.

“Mining companies shouldn’t have to dig trenches to prevent theft of machinery, or send armed guards up into mines just to get product out,” Kast said last week. “That’s the security we’re looking for.”

“Organized crime has changed,” Kast ​said. “These are transnational organizations that require a different legal framework. We need to agree on what that framework should be.”

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Additional reporting by Fabian Cambero; Editing by Lucinda Elliott and David Gregorio)