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Published Friday, January 29, 2021
5,000-plus environmental crimes
reported in Costa Rica
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Last year, 5,722 complaints were registered for violations of the environmental law, according to the most recent report from the Ministry of the Environment.
According to the ministry statistics, of the total complaints, 85.4% of the cases were resolved.
The National System of Conservation Areas, SINAC, received 3,648 complaints, which is equivalent to 63% of the total complaints of last year.
Of the total complaints, only 976 were resolved by a judge of the Environmental Court.
One of the most recent cases of environmental crimes happened on Sunday when Border Police officers arrested two foreign men on suspicion of logging in a protected area in Talamanca Canton, Limón Province.
According to the police report, the two men were cutting down a wooded area located next to the Gandoca Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge.
"The men, upon noticing the police presence, tried to flee the site but the police managed to arrest them," the report said.
One of the suspects, surnamed Álvarez, is a Nicaraguan who did not have documents to prove his legal entry into the country. The second man surnamed Becker of Panamanian nationality has a criminal record for minor crimes in Costa Rica.
In addition to the arrests, officers seized tools used to fell trees and saw their wood. Allegedly, the suspects had built a kind of portable sawmill.
Among the timber species they were cutting are golden fruit, pilón, cedar and chilamate, which provide fruits for various species of animals in the area.
The men were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry of Talamanca, where a judge ordered pre-trial measures as a suspect of environmental crimes. And in the case of the Nicaraguan man, he is also being investigated on suspicion of having entered the country illegally.
The authorities call on the public to report any suspicion of environmental crimes to the emergency line 1192.
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Have you heard about environmental crime cases in his community? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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