By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Prosecutor's Office against Drug Trafficking and Related Crimes confirmed Tuesday the arrest of 17 suspects for the alleged crime of international drug trafficking.


According to the Prosecutor's Office, the suspects belong to a gang dedicated to trafficking large quantities of marijuana and cocaine from Colombia to the United States.

The alleged drug traffickers were arrested during 18 raids Tuesday.

The agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization raided the homes of the suspects in Liberia, Santa Cruz and Filadelfia, in Guanacaste. Also, houses were raided in Quepos and Jacó beaches in Puntarenas.

The drug could have entered the country by sea, through Quepos and Jacó. It is also presumed that the drug had been entered into the country by air, for which they would have used airplanes and clandestine runways in the province of Guanacaste, said the Prosecutor's Office in its statement.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the drug was transported to the United States, but part of it also was sold in Costa Rica.

The detainees are: two people with the last name Rodríguez-Castillo, Flores-Morera, De León-Rodríguez, Díaz-Gómez, two people with the last names Morales-Pérez, Altamirano-Duarte, Cascante-Arauz, Castillo-Obando, Arata-Sánchez, Calvo-Cantillo, Castillo-Espinoza, Venegas-Jiménez, Herrera-Trejos, Fuentes-Pérez and Cortés-Espinoza.


In addition to the arrest of the suspects, judicial agents seized 21 packages of marijuana, two revolvers, a shotgun, 11 cars, ammunition boxes for firearms of calibers 9 mm. and 38 and 12 gauge shotgun shells. Also, more than $6,000 in cash was seized.

As part of the investigation, police found a crashed aircraft April 7 in the Porosal de Cañas area in Guanacaste, which, supposedly, was being prepared to carry a drug shipment, said the Prosecutor's Office.

June 12, a speedboat was captured in the Palo Seco area of Parrita in Puntarenas, and Drug Control Police seized 643 packages of marijuana.

In another case linked to the group, on Sept. 12, police stopped a car in front of the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Libera  where 25 kilograms of drugs were being transported. The driver also had more than $10,500 in cash, police said at the time.

The seventeen suspects were jailed at the Public Ministry cells, where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and after that, they were to face a judge who will consider pre-trial measures.

The judicial agents call on the population to report any suspicion of drug sales or any other crime, to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilinguals agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.



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