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|  Published Wednesday, June 24, 2020
floating in the Caribbean Sea
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services
The National Coastguards reported on Tuesday that they found several packages of marijuana floating in the Caribbean Sea, in the Limón Province.
According to the coastguard report, the seizure of the illicit packages happened on Saturday morning, in an operation developed by crews of the interceptor vessels GC 38-9 and GC 38-17 from the Limón station.
The Coastguard operation was in response to a warning call about the imminent arrival of a suspicious Go-Fast Vessel (GFV) near the coast of Limón, coming from Jamaica.
According to Commissioner Martín Arias, director of the Coast Guard, the suspicious vessel threw their drug packages into the sea and fled at high speed, leaving 110 packages floating about 38 nautical miles from the Portete Beach Coast Guard post in Limón Province.
"The packages were loaded on board of the Coast Guard vessels and taken to the port in Limón, where they were delivered to the Drug Control Police, which determined that the 110 packages weighed about 260 kilograms," according to the Coastguards report.
According to the coast guards, a US P3-type aircraft collaborated with overflights in the area to rule out the presence of more drugs. This job is part of the Joint Patrol with the United States.
The Coast Guard maintains stations in the Matina, Parismina, Pacuare, Colorado and Tortuguero districts in Limón Province.
There were no people arrested in this case.
Regarding the four Costa Ricans detained for drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea, last week four were charged in the U.S.
The Costa Ricans were detained by the U.S. Coast Guard in international waters and charged for their respective roles in attempting to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana into the United States, announced the U.S. Department of Justice on June 9.
According to the case, in May, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter Confidence detected a GFV. Members of the investigative team learned of a GFV that was planning to transport nearly 1,500 kilograms of marijuana from the area of Punta Aji to an awaiting vessel being dispatched from Central America.
On May 19, USCG Cutter James detected a GFV with no indication of nationality located in the area of 83 nautical miles southwest of El Cacao, Panama, in international waters.
After gaining control of the GFV, a USCG boarding team encountered the Costa Ricans surnamed Smith-Meria, 28, Sanchez-Cascante, 30, Cesar-Flores, 22, and Hidalgo-Ching, 28. The guards subsequently seized approximately 88 bales containing approximately 1,500 kilograms of marijuana.
"The defendants are charged with the manufacture, distribution, or possession of a controlled substance on a vessel. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison," said the U.S. Department of Justice in its statement.
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