October 23, 2026

They had a light aircraft and luxury cars: Gang involved in illegal TV signal retransmission over the internet dismantled

The Eastern High-Complexity Prosecutor's Office and Chile's Investigative Police (PDI) dismantled a criminal network under investigation for illegally retransmitting television signals over the internet and subsequently moving the proceeds.

Sixteen people were arrested during raids in the Metropolitan Region and La Araucanía. Authorities seized four luxury cars and a light aircraft and froze 150 bank accounts across 11 banks. The operation allegedly generated approximately US$4 million through subscriptions to illegal platforms such as UltraIPTV and MegaIPTV.

Among those arrested is the main suspect, accused of stealing legally distributed content and retransmitting it through private servers to sell it as subscription television packages.

The legal action is part of cases initiated by the Alliance Against Audiovisual Piracy (Alianza contra la Piratería Audiovisual), with strategic support from Mercado Libre and legal representation in Chile by the law firm Contreras Velozo, before the Public Prosecutor's Office, for serious violations of Intellectual Property Law No. 17,336 and money laundering under Law No. 19,913.

Although the investigation suggests that the network had been operating since 2019, preliminary information indicates that between June 2021 and July 2022 alone, both platforms recorded transactions exceeding 900 million Chilean pesos, equivalent to more than US$1.26 million.

"We are dealing with illegal platforms that steal these signals, commercialize them and generate profits. Those involved will face formal charges for various offenses, including violations of intellectual property and telecommunications laws, unlawful association depending on when the acts were committed, money laundering and tax offenses, since they had not formally registered their business activities. This group stole and decoded these signals and then sold them to customers through fake or nonexistent front companies," said Lorena Parra, chief prosecutor of the Eastern Prosecutor's Office.

She added: "Legitimate platforms such as DirecTV also provided direct support. There is also a complaint from the Fox group and other television channels. What makes this case innovative is that a Guarantee Court issued an order to block one of these platforms through criminal proceedings, something that had not previously been achieved in criminal court. This represents significant progress."

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