Judicial agents raided a hydroponic marijuana lab

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization, in the station of Liberia*, in the province of Guanacaste, raided a house in the center of that community where there was an alleged laboratory for hydroponic marijuana cultivation.

Hydroponics is a soil-less method of growing cannabis using water as the primary medium.

According to the agents' report, the investigation began about two weeks ago, after receiving confidential reports about marijuana was grown in the house.

Judicial agents, with the collaboration of the Municipal Police, raided the house and found approximately five kilos of marijuana that apparently had been produced using the hydroponic method.

In addition to the drugs, the agents seized lamps, several air conditioners, and a gun-type weapon among other devices.

"The seized marijuana was packed in plastic bags and jars," said agents in its report.

The man who lived in the house had been arrested by the police of Liberia, for reasons related to another case that was being investigated by the judicial agents.

Investigators sent the drugs and confiscated items to the Public Ministry, as part of the evidence against the suspect. His name was not provided by the authorities.

Related to the most recent arrest of suspects linked to a hydroponic marijuana crop, as reported in AM Costa Rica on August 26th, agents detained three men surnamed Badilla-Chinchilla, Salazar-Salazar, and Calderón-Ugalde, suspected of selling hydroponically-grown marijuana in the community of Guarari* in the province of Heredia.

Apparently, the suspects, besides planting marijuana, also sold the drug.

The drug was sold directly to the client or sent expressly. Apparently, "the suspects received the orders by phone and then moved to deliver the drug," the police said in its report.

The arrests of the suspects were the result of several raids in the area. In one location, the property was "used as a warehouse, where all the necessary implements to set up a hydroponic marijuana laboratory were found," said the police in its report.

In addition to the arrests of the suspects, the police seized three pounds of marijuana, a gun-type firearm, $1,780.2 in cash and 600 grams of marijuana in packages.

According to the police report, one gram of marijuana in the market can be priced between $15 and $20.

The three men were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry, where they were interrogated by the judicial agents. The judge ordered three months of pre-trial prison against them.

The use of marijuana in Costa Rica is illegal.

The judicial agents call on the population to report any suspicion of drug sales to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilinguals agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.

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