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Police report that officers
intercepted the boat and found
4 bags containing 400 one kilo
packs of marijuana.
/ National Coast Guard Service
courtesy photos
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U.S.
Coastguard alert helps with
capture
of two Colombians and 400 kilos
of marijuana
By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
Following an alert issued by
U.S. Coastguard, the National
Coast Guard Service intercepted
a boat maned by two Colombian
men surnamed Rentería-Valencia,
32 years old, , and Valencia -
Murcia, 29 years old. The boat
was 180 kilometers off the coast
of Quepos*,
Puntarenas and was carrying 400
kilos of marijuana.
Police report that officers
intercepted the boat and found 4
bags containing 400 one kilo
packs of marijuana.
The suspects sailed "in a boat
named Lisa, 30 feet long, gray
with blue color and a 115 HP
engine," said the Coast Guard
Service in its report.
In addition to the arrest of the
suspects, the police seized the
drug, plus 350,000 Colombian
pesos (about $104), three large
containers with fuel residue,
GPS navigation equipment, a cell
phone, and a satellite phone.
The Quepos Prosecutor's Office
confirmed that the Judge of the
Public Ministry has ordered six
months of pre-trial prison
against these two men who are
suspected of international drug
trafficking.
Related to the most recent
alerts issued by U.S. Coast
Guard, as A.M. Costa Rica
reported on May 13th, a
narco-submarine was found in
Costa Rican waters transporting
more than 2 tons of cocaine.
The Costa Rican coastguard
responded to the U.S. Coast
Guard alert about a submarine
transporting narcotics that had
run aground on the coast of the
Corcovado
National* Park in the
Peninsula in Osa.
A narco-submarine, also called
drug sub and bigfoot submarine,
is a type of custom-made
ocean-going self-propelled
submersible vessel built by drug
traffickers to smuggle drugs.
They are used by Colombian drug
cartel members to export cocaine
from Colombia to Mexico, which
is often transported overland to
the United States.
Police who responded arrested
two suspects and seized more
than 2.3 tons of cocaine that
was inside the narco-submarine.
Hours later they arrested the
third suspect.
According to the police report,
the narco-submarine had run
aground on Llorona Beach and the
three crew members had fled to
the jungle area.
"Upon arrival, the agents of the
Drug Control Police, checked the
submarine, founding a total of
2,377 packets of cocaine of one
kilo each," said the police in
their report.
After the submarine was found,
the park rangers reported
finding three men walking
through the brush, "when the
officers asked the stop, they
started firing, wounding an
officer," said police in their
report.
According to the police report,
the wounded park ranger was
taken to the Corcovado clinic,
where he recovered days later.
The criminal judge of the
Golfito court, imposed six
months of pre-trial jail against
three men, two Colombian men,
one surnamed Estupiñán-García
and the other surnamed
Angulo-Mosquera, and Costa Rican
man surnamed Caballero-Espinoza,
as suspects in the crime of
international drug trafficking
in a narco-submarine.
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Have you ever heard of a
narco-submarine? We would like to
know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments
to: news@amcostarica.com
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