Police seize more than 1,600 smuggled beers
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Border Police officers from the Sixaola* delegation in the province of Limón reported the confiscation of 1,602 cans of beer and other alleged contraband, which was hidden in a minibus.
According to the police report, during a routine patrolling in the town of Bratsi near the border with Panama, the officers ordered to stop a driver who was traveling in a minibus.
Officers decided to review the vehicle because they noticed that "the backend of the car was sagging and it was going at low speed," said the police in its report.
Officers found the beer cans inside the minibus. The owner of the minivan nor his driver, a man, surnamed Pitty, had no invoice or document showing payment for the purchase of liquor.
The beer was confiscated and delivered to the Fiscal Control Police. The suspect was not arrested, but an accusation was opened against him for alleged tax evasion.
On July 26th, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported, Border Police officers arrested a man surnamed Nuñez, in the community of Guaycará in Golfito*, in the province of Puntarenas, as a suspect of smuggling merchandise and resistance to authority.
According to the police report, during a routine patrol, the police encountered three cars that did not obey their order to stop. The three drivers made a dangerous maneuver to turn into the opposite lane and escape from the police, said police in a report. However, officers managed to detain the suspects, thereby "frustrating a large liquor smuggling operation," said the police in its report.
In the review of the three cars, the police found 12 boxes of Cuban rum cans, 10 cases of beer, and several bottles of vodka, rum, and whiskey.
The merchandise was seized and handed over to the Fiscal Police.
Of the three drivers, only Núñez was arrested for putting up resistance to the search of his car, police said.
According to the police report, arrests of drivers transporting contraband merchandise are frequent in the Golfito area, because the merchandise is smuggled to the country from Panama.
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Have you heard of people who smuggle merchandise into your community? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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