The officers destroyed the crops and burned the plants as part of the security protocol in these cases.
/Border Police courtesy photo.
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Border Police destroy marijuana
plantation found in southern zone
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Officials of the Border Police, together with officials of the National System of Conservation Areas, Friday found and destroyed a marijuana plantation located in the town of Piedras Blancas*, in Osa in the southern zone of the country.
The police report that the suspected owners of the plantation had planted marijuana in the middle of other crops of cassava (or yuca in Spanish) and corn to try to camouflage the plants.
A record number of plants were discovered as part of the investigation. The officers destroyed the crops and burned the plants as part of the security protocol in these cases. The place where the plantation was apparently abandoned was open cropland and no suspects could be arrested.
The officers sent a report to the Osa Prosecutor's Office where the investigation will continue.
Related to marijuana recently find by police, as A.M. Costa Rica reported on June 14th, officers from the Parrita* and Quepos* stations in Puntarenas met early on Thursday at Isla Damas* to investigate a stranded boat and several packages with drugs in the sand.
According to the police report, they received the support of officers of the National Coast Guard Service and officers of the Air Surveillance Service who conducted patrols by sea, waterways, and air to look for more drugs and the suspects responsible for the cargo.
In addition, they coordinated with officials of the Drug Control Police to carry out the seizure of the drugs.
"The boat is 38 feet long with two 200 hp. engines which carried several empty tanks and others with gasoline, as well as other empty containers, clothing, and tools," said the police in their report.
When they arrived at the place, they did not locate the boat’s crew so there were no detainees.
With the help of the K-9 unit a bag was found that was hidden in banana and weed plants. The bag contained more drugs, 643 rectangular shaped packages filled with marijuana.
The search and seizure operation lasted for six hours. The boat was confiscated and transferred to the Coast Guard Station in Quepos, while the drug was confiscated as part of the case.
On Tuesday June 11, Police find ship stranded with 1,076 drug packages in Corcovado National Park*.
The Air Surveillance Police reported that
aerial surveillance spotted a stranded boat surrounded by some
suspicious packages on Thursday, June 6. The boat was in a sector of La Leona Beach*.
According
to the police report, the pilots observed several packages near the
boat, and alerted the Border Police, whose personnel located several
packages with drugs.
"For more than 48 hours, the officers worked
in the collection of packages thrown on the beach and near the rocks,
which were washed away by the waves," the police report said.
The
boat was found destroyed, as were the engines. In addition, 1,076
packages of drugs were found, 958 of them with marijuana and 118 with
cocaine.
The Air Surveillance Police had to use the helicopter to
carry out the extraction of the drugs, work that was hampered by bad
weather conditions and lack of space to land.
In addition,
officers detained two men, foreigners, apparently entering the country
illegality. They were near the area where the drugs were found. However,
the police could not link the two men with the cargo, so they were
taken to the immigration offices where they will be investigated to
determine their legal status.
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Have you heard of marijuana plantations near your community? We would
like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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