Jail time for employee suspected of bringing drugs to prison in Guanacaste

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Ministry of Justice reported the second case in less than one week of the arrest of a man, an employee of the prison in Liberia*, in the province of Guanacaste, suspected for bringing drugs into the jail.

According to Nils Ching, deputy director of the prison police force, the suspect was arrested as a result of a surveillance operation.

"We asked the suspect to take off his shoes. But at the moment, intending to evade the review, the suspect said he felt nauseous, so he was taken to receive proper medical attention," said Ching in his report." When we continued with the review process, we found drugs inside his shoes wrapped in masking tape."

According to the police report, in one shoe there was 85.50 grams of marijuana and in the other shoe, there was 83.90 grams of the same drug, for a total of 169.40 grams of marijuana.

The suspect, whose name was not published, was sent to the Public Ministry holding cells where a judge ordered three months of pre-trial prison against him.

According to the Ministry of Justice during this year, more than 35 prison employees, among police officers and administrative staff, were denounced for have been introducing drugs in prisons.

On Monday, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported, a Judge of the Criminal Court of the province of Alajuela*, ordered three months pre-trial preventive prison against a police officer surnamed Pacheco-Loaiza, who works in the jail located in San Rafael in the same province. He is suspected of bringing drugs into the jail.


According to the Prosecutor, Pacheco-Loaiza was arrested on Monday of last week, while he was working. Other officers saw him enter and suspiciously leave the parking lot.

"The other officers noticed this and followed him. They intercepted him and checked his car. In it they found 42.35 grams of crack and 152.95 grams of cocaine, and 290 clonazepam pills," said the Prosecutor in its statement.

According to the police report, the officer had requested permission on Monday night of last week, to go in his car to buy food. When he returned, he tried to enter the jail, but he was intercepted by the other officers.

When they checked the car, they also found "seven cell phones, eleven cellphone chargers, two charging adapters, a USB cable, a hands-free device, and eleven SIM phone cards from different cellular operators," said the Prosecutor's report.

Both the drugs and the other items were seized as part of the evidence in the case against the police officer.

According to the Ministry of Justice, officer Pacheco-Loaiza has worked in the prison for three years and six months.

This detention was the result of an undercover investigation. "This employee started to work at the jail in March 2016, and after a follow-up by an intelligence unit, he was arrested with cell phones, pills, and drugs such as cocaine, crack and weed," said Pablo Bertozzi, the director of the police. "We continue to maintain a clear and firm position of zero tolerance for acts of corruption."

The officer detained, Pacheco-Loaiza, must remain in prison for three months until the trial against him begins.

According to the Ministry of Justice, between 2016 and 2019, 77 prison employees were sanctioned for entering prison facilities without reporting cellphones or accessories. During that period, 17 employees were fired for committing severe infractions.

On a recent case of a police detained as suspect of crime, was on August 13th, when  the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office in Paso Canoas*, in the southern zone, announced that pre-trial measures were ordered by a judge, against a man surnamed Arias-Montenegro, suspected of the alleged crime of legislation for his benefit.


According to the Prosecutor's report, the suspect worked as a police officer for the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners.

It is presumed that Arias-Montenegro on December 17th, 2018, was working as a police coordinator, when he authorized a close relative, surnamed Arias-Picado, to obtain a special permit to leave the country to go to Panama.

Arias- Montenegro did that "knowing that the other person (referring to his relative) had an order to the prohibition of leaving the country," said the Prosecutor in its report.

Apparently, Arias-Montenegro reviewed the database and verified that his relative had an exit impediment; however, despite that, "he authorized and signed the permit to leaving the country and present the documents to the Panamanian authorities," said the police in its report. "Also, the suspect did not register the action, excluding immigration control."

The suspect was sent to the cells of the Public Ministry. The judge ordered his suspension as a police officer, prohibited him from entering  the Immigration office of Paso Canoas, and made it obligatory for him to sign a control before the Prosecutor once a month.

These pre-trial measures were imposed for six months.

According to the authorities of the Immigration Directorate, Arias- Montenegro was chief of police and worked for the institution for nine years.

 
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What should the Ministry of Security do to prevent other police officers from bringing drugs or cell phones into prisons? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com

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