Chilean police say they've cracked a scheme to steal ice from a disappearing glacier.



The driver of a refrigerator truck was stopped cold in far southern Patagonia, carrying five tonnes of ice they say was carved from icebergs from the Jorge Montt glacier.



His plan was to deliver the ice to Santiago, nearly 2200 kilometres to the north, where a company apparently hoped to sell it as ice cubes to upscale bars and restaurants. Now he's under arrest for robbery.



Regional Forestry director Juan Eduardo Barrientos wouldn't identify any of the suspects but said the company had been calling various public officials in hopes of liberating the ice.



Instead, Barrientos said, it's been put in tanks for use as irrigation on farms suffering from drought.