Pistol which belonged to the former dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochetwas found and seized by police during an anti-drug operation in the southern part of the Latin American country.

According to the announcement of the prosecution, the weapon was located in the possession of a 15-year-old teenagerwho while trying to escape from the police during an operation on Friday in the city of Valvidia threw it in a small bag containing drugs in the backyard.

The police moved on in seizing the gun and arresting the teenager, against whom a case file is being filed for “illegal firearm possession” and attempted murder, a source close to the prosecution explained to AFP.

During the teenager’s arraignment, prosecutor Tatiana Esquivel revealed that the handle of the 380-caliber Beretta pistol was engraved with the inscription “Augusto Pinochet U.”

The former dictator’s full name was Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.

The disappearance of the weapon was reported earlier in 2014 in the capital Santiago region — some 870 kilometers from where it was found and seized.

The police and the family of the former dictator they refused to make any comment on how the pistol disappeared nine years ago when contacted by AFP.

Augusto Pinochet, who died in 2006, aged 91, was the strongman of the military regime in Chile from 1973 to 1990. During the days of the military junta over 40,000 people were murdered, “disappeared” or tortured, according to official statistics. The former dictator was never tried.

Chilean prosecutors are investigating research about the gun being used in other crimes after a video of a shootout in which it is believed to have been used went viral on social media.