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The officers also seized
the 6.3 tons of cocaine
that was hidden in a
shipment of fruits
exported from Costa
Rica. /
photo.
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Costa Rican-Canadian citizen
arrested
in Austria as drug
trafficking suspect
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police in Spain reported that
last Wednesday a man with dual
Costa Rican and Canadian
nationality was arrested in
Austria. The man has the surname
Thompson-Morera and is 41, they
said, adding that he is
suspected of having links with
an international gang of drug
trafficking in Holland.
The suspect is also the
president of the Rugby
Federation of Costa Rica and
owner of a fruit export company.
The Rugby Federation of Costa
Rica has not yet issued an
official statement on the
situation of its president.
According to statements by
Michael Soto, minister of
Security, the case is being
investigated in coordination
with authorities in Costa Rica,
and the suspect's house in Coronado*
in San José was searched one day
after the arrest in Austria.
According to the police report,
Thompson-Morera is linked to six
tons of cocaine found hidden in
a shipment of bananas from Costa
Rica to Spain in October 2018.
and he is also linked to a Dutch
organization that deals in arms
and drugs Europe and Asia.
In addition to the arrest, the
suspect's two passports, one
Costa Rican and one Canadian,
were seized.
The suspect is president of the
company that sends fruits and
tubers to China, and it is this
firm that was used to export the
drug to Europe, said police.
Thompson-Morera was sent to the
cells of the special anti-drug
prosecutor of Spain and will
stay there during the continuing
investigation and processing of
the official accusation of
international drug trafficking,
said police.
This is a case, which is being
developed by the police of
Spain, so it is expected that
the suspect may face a trial in
that country.
As A.M. Costa Rica reported in
October 2018, 16 people believed
to be part of a narcotics
organization in the Netherlands
were arrested.
The arrests were due to a joint
operation of the national police
of Spain, the national police of
Portugal, armed forces of the
Netherlands and U.S. Homeland
Security forces.
The officers also seized the 6.3
tons of cocaine that was hidden
in a shipment of fruits exported
from Costa Rica.
According to
the Spanish police report, 16
members of the criminal
organization were captured, 6.3
tons of cocaine were seized, and
300,000 euros in cash
(equivalent to $340,000),
firearms, luxury cars,
merchandise transport equipment
and documents related to fruit
imports were confiscated.
"
The suspects are alleged to
have hidden their drug
trafficking activities in a
company that imports large
quantities of fruit from Costa
Rica." The report continues to
say that "the strategy of the
organization was to receive the
fruit/drug shipments in the
province of Badajoz, Spain, and
then transport the drugs to
other parts of Europe.
"
Investigators from Spain,
Brazil, The Netherlands, and the
United States managed to
dismantle the band of alleged
drug traffickers who are accused
of hiding the drug in a
warehouse in Malaga.
"The drug had arrived in our
country hidden in a shipment of
bananas, and in the operation,
well-known Dutch criminals
settled on the Costa del Sol in
Spain were captured," the police
report says.
In the investigation, which
lasted almost a year, members of
the criminal organization who
also had criminal records in The
Netherlands were investigated.
The investigation revealed that
the members had no visible means
of support and led a very
prosperous lifestyle which
included buying high-value real
estate, said police.
"As a result of the analysis of
the information gathered, it was
concluded that the group under
investigation was responsible
for both distributing and
introducing large amounts of
cocaine into Spain, as well as
providing other groups with the
necessary logistics to enter
Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish
ports with containers loaded
with this drug," reported the
Spanish police.
The investigation also showed
that the suspects had the
necessary infrastructure for the
transport and storage of goods
in Badajoz and Malaga.
"The organization's way of
operating was with containers
that transported the cocaine
hidden in the declared legal
cargo, arriving at the port of
Setúbal in Portugal, from where
they were subsequently
transferred to Spain," said the
police
.
Officers reported that this was
a large police operation that
focused on the Malaga province
where they had a large network
of contacts and clients to serve
their interests. Thanks to the
intense work by investigators,
that network was dismantled,
they said.
According to the investigators,
the criminal organization used
technology as well as camouflage
strategies to avoid detection.
Investigators had to face an
organization that used
extraordinary security measures
to protect themselves. These
included the use of
state-of-the-art electronic
devices, encrypted
communications and large numbers
of vehicles that were constantly
swapped around in order to
escape detection by police,
investigators said.
---------------------------------
How are the export control
systems in your country to avoid
sending drug shipments to other
countries? We
would like to know your thoughts
on this story. Send your
comments to news@amcostarica.com
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