-Published: Tuesday, October 8, 2019-
Five suspected of alleged immigrants trafficking jailed
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Border Police officers arrested three suspected of immigrant traffickers Sunday, at Los Chiles* in the province of Alajuela.
According to the police report, the first arrest was recorded near the border with Nicaragua in a place known as El Cebichito.
There, officers reported having intercepted a driver, a Nicaraguan man surnamed Ríos, who was transporting three other men, also of Nicaraguan nationality, who had allegedly entered the country illegally.
"Apparently, each one of the foreigners paid five thousand colones to be taken to the Central Park of the city of Los Chiles," said the police in its report.
The second case reported by the police also happened in Los Chiles, this time in the community of Las Tablillas. In a way similar first incident, another driver, a Costa Rican man surnamed Ortega, was arrested transporting seven people, all Nicaraguans, who allegedly entered the country illegally.
"The suspect allegedly charged three thousand colones to each of the foreigners to take them to a safe place and thus circumvent the immigration controls," said the police in its report.
Ortega, the driver, was also cited for reckless driving because he was drunk at the time of his arrest, said police.
In addition to the driver Ortega, officials reported that they arrested an alleged accomplice, surnamed Lopez, who was apparently in charge of contacting and collecting the entrance fee to Nicaraguans undocumented immigrants, said the police in its report.
The three men, Ríos, Ortega, and Lopez, were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and after that, they await a judge's decision on pre-trial measures.
Two other suspects who were arrested last week, as A.M. Costa Rica reported, were jailed by a judge of the San Carlos Flagrance Court.
According to the police report, the judge ordered preventive detention for 15 days, the maximum period allowed in case of flagrancy, against a man surnamed Porras-Castillo and a woman surnamed Solís-Morales, suspected of illegal trafficking of immigrants.
In flagrante delicto or sometimes simply in flagrante is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offense. The colloquial "caught red-handed" or "caught rapid" are English equivalents.
Last week, the officers arrested Porras-Castillo and Solís-Morales, both Costa Ricans, in the communities of El Roble and Chorreras in the San Carlos* area.
Another man was arrested, surnamed Cruz, but he was released.
The suspects were arrested when police said they were escorting 15 people, all Nicaraguans, who had entered the country illegally, according to a report.
According to the police, the migrants were traveling in a pick-up vehicle and another sedan-type car when they were intercepted by the immigration officers.
"The investigation determined that migrants are from Nicaragua, who arrived in the national territory by boat by the Caño La Venada sector," said the police in its report. "In this sector, foreign people were captured and moved in unsafe vehicles and at high speeds at greater capacity than the vehicle allowed to the Crucitas area with the purpose of carrying out the illegal extraction of minerals.
According to the police, the three suspects charged large sums of money to immigrants to take them to the Crucitas area where the soil is rich in gold.
Meanwhile, all the Nicaraguans were arrested as suspects of illegal entry to the country and were taken to the cells of the Directorate of Migration. The process in this institution is different. Each person's case will be analyzed, and if applicable, they will be deported to their country of origin, police noted.
"The Professional Migration Police executes these types of repressive actions in order to fight against the trafficking of migrants and related activities, which threaten national security and the lives of migrants," said Stephen Madden, director of the Professional Migration Police.
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