-Published: Monday, November 18, 2019-
British citizen detained at the airport suspected of having fake money and identifications
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police at the Juan Santamaría International Airport, in the Province of Alajuela, Friday arrested a British citizen, surnamed Turnbull-Manzanillo, as a suspect of transporting false identifications and fake U.S. dollars bills.
According to the police report, during a routine operation, the 39-year-old Turnbull's luggage was checked, before he boarded a flight to the Dominican Republic, where he is said to have a residence.
In the luggage, police said they found $4,900 in fake U.S. dollars bills as well as several passports and fake IDs in the name of other people.
The suspect was jailed at the Public Ministry cells in Alajuela, where he was interrogated by the judicial agents and after that, he is to facing a judge who will consider pre-trial measures.
In other actions, on Oct. 11 the immigration police reported that four U.S. citizens were prohibited from entering the country because they have criminal records of sexual abuse against minors.
According to the police report, the first case happened when three men, all U.S. citizens, arrived in the country from a cruise ship and tried to enter through the maritime immigration control post located in the province of Puntarenas.
The fourth U.S. citizen also was rejected when he arrived in the country, apparently from Nicaragua, and tried to enter at the Peñas Blancas post in the province of Guanacaste, on the northern border, police said.
According to the immigration police, the officers of the border posts detected that these people, both the three men who came by ship cruise and the one who came by land, have a history of sexual abuse against minors and possession of child pornography.
"Given this background, the officers proceed to reject the requests to enter the country," said the Directorate General of Migration in its report.
In all four cases, the men had reported that they were coming to the country as tourists. Them names were not reported in the police statement.
According to the data provided by the Directorate General of Migration, during this year, the request for entry of 48 people have been rejected because of criminal records of sexual abuse against minors.
In 2018, 77 people were rejected for having the same background. In 2017, 79 people were rejected for the same reasons, the immigration agency said.
In another case involving a U.S. citizen at an airport, the police of the International Airport Daniel Oduber Quirós in Liberia in the Province of Guanacaste, arrested a man surnamed Singleton Sept. 18 as a suspect of international drug trafficking.
According to the police report, the man arrived in the country on a direct flight from Miami, Florida. In a routine review, officers said they detected packages of candy and plastic containers with suspicious merchandise.
As part of the process in the case of drug trafficking, the airport officials requested the support of specialists from the Air Surveillance Service.
According to Airport Police Chief Captain Otto-Arrieta, a K-9 dog that specializes in drug tracking detected marijuana hidden in the suspect's luggage.
"In the suspect's luggage there were 29.34 grams of marijuana in wraps and 17.92 grams of marijuana in jelly candies," said Arrieta.
Singleton was taken to the cells of the Public Ministry in Liberia where he was interrogated by the judicial agents. A judge ordered three months of pre-trial jail against him.
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Should travel agencies or tour operators warn people with a criminal record of crimes against minors that they cannot enter Costa Rica? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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