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Published Monday, February 22, 2021
Costa Rican and Panamanian coast
guards detain drug trafficking suspects
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
In two anti-drug operations over the weekend, officials from Costa Rica and Panama Coast Guards detained five men as suspects of drug trafficking in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The first operation was carried out by officers of the National Coast Guard, when they arrested two men who were sailing a thousand miles out of Osa coast in Puntarenas Province, as suspects of drug trafficking.
According to the police report, the case began on Friday when the coast guard officers intercepted a small boat by the name: "La Gaviota Blanca." It was sailing near the mouth of the Rio Sierpe in Osa.
"Upon noticing the presence of the coast guard, the crew tried to flee; however, the police managed to stop the boat near the coast," the police said.
During a first inspection of the boat, which had no license plate, officers found several packages hidden on the inner sides of the boat.
The detained men were identified as a Nicaraguan surnamed Chavarría, who had an arrest warrant for the crime of drug trafficking, with him was a Costa Rican man, surnamed Moore Green, who has no criminal record.
The two men, the boat and the drugs were taken to the police port in Puntarenas where officers of the Drug Control Police made a more detailed inspection of the shipment. They confirmed a cargo of 263 packages of cocaine and one more package of marijuana. All packages weighing approximately one kilogram each.
The two men were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they must wait until a judge orders the pre-trial measures against them as suspects of drug trafficking.
The second anti-drug operation was carried out on Sunday, when officers from the National Air Naval Service Units of Panama, Senan, arrested three Costa Ricans on suspicion of sailing with a shipment of 2,344 packages of cocaine.
According to the authorities, the vessel was intercepted in the Pacific waters, south of Punta Burica, in the province of Chiriquí, on the Panamanian side.
The drug and the boat were seized by the Panamanian authorities while the three Costa Rican men were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry of Panama.
According to statistics from the Ministry of
Security, in 2020, 48,101 kilograms of
cocaine and 12,483 kilograms of marijuana
have been seized, as a result of the
Coast Guards patrolling.
The Costa Rican judicial agents call on the people to report any suspicion of drug trafficking to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilingual agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.
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