Published Thursday, October 29, 2020

The police officers from the Los Chiles Canton station, in the north of Alajuela Province, seized a cargo of 40 kilos of cyanide.

According to the police report, during a routine patrol, the officers detected a vehicle that is presumed to be entering the country from Nicaragua with the cyanide cargo.

Cyanide is mainly produced for the mining of gold and silver. It helps dissolve these metals and their ores. In the cyanide process, finely ground high-grade ore is mixed with the cyanide; low-grade ores are stacked into heaps and sprayed with a cyanide solution. The precious metals are complexed by the cyanide anions to form soluble derivatives.

After a search through the area, the officers found the vehicle dumped on a property located in the community of Santa Fe, near where the highway control operations were being carried out.

The driver, suspected of importing the shipment illegally, was no longer on the property when the officers arrived, police said in their report.

During a more thorough investigation of the vehicle, the police confirmed that it was six bags of cyanide. As this is a highly toxic chemical, the process of confiscation was coordinated with officials from the Ministry of Health and local Firefighters.

The cyanide was kept in special containers for the use of toxic chemicals that the ministry has for the protection of such products in its facilities.

No person was detained on suspicion of bringing this chemical into the country. However, agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization will continue with the investigations of the case to find the person responsible.

According to the Ministry of Security, this year 1,340 kilograms of cyanide have been seized, mainly in the border zone with Nicaragua.

The judicial agents make a call to report any suspicion of sale, import, transport, or use of cyanide, to the confidential line 800-8000-645, where there are bilingual agents who can answer calls in English or Spanish.




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