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Published Wednesday, March 10, 2021
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
On Tuesday, officers from the Drug Control Police detected a shipment of cocaine hidden inside a container of agricultural products that were to be exported to Spain.
According to the police report, during a routine inspection process of the containers that were in custody at the APM Terminal Port located in Moín Canton, Limón Province, several packages were detected among 3,000 boxes with bananas that were to be exported to Barcelona's port.
The illegal cargo contained 513 kilos of cocaine, police said.
No arrests of suspects linked to the drug shipment were reported. The agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization are leading the investigation to find the people responsible for hiding the drug inside the container.
A similar case happened in February when the Limón Prosecutor's Office ordered the arrest of nine people on suspicion of being members of a gang dedicated to international drug trafficking.
According to the report, the suspects, all Costa Ricans, were detained in their homes located in the provinces of Limón, Heredia and San José.
In addition to the arrests, the judicial agents seized money, firearms, ammunition, boats, vehicles, GPS devices, satellite phones and car washing equipment, as part of the evidence collected against the suspects.
The case started in May 2020, when a man surnamed Porras-Chaverri was arrested for allegedly transporting a shipment of cocaine near the Guácimo Canton in Limón Province. Detectives link this suspect with the gang.
According to the judicial agent's report, in January 2020 several people were selecting containers of products to be exported to Europe. Allegedly, these people paid the drivers to let them hide cocaine shipments among the boxes of legal products to be exported.
During the investigation, judicial agents linked these people to 1,350 kilograms of cocaine seized in one of the export terminals in Limón Province in May 2020.
In June 2020, the Dutch police seized 100 kilograms of cocaine that had entered the country hidden in a container that was sent from Costa Rica. That case was also linked to the same gang, according to the judicial agent's report.
The nine suspects were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where a judge ordered pre-trial measures against them.
According to the Ministry of Security statistics, in 2020 there were 16.1 tons of cocaine seized. The drug was detected inside 18 containers located at the ports in Limón and Puntarenas.
The Costa Rican judicial agents ask for people to report any suspicion of drug trafficking to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilingual agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.
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What else should the authorities do in the fight against drug trafficking? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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