By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Prosecutor's Office Against Drug Trafficking and Related Crimes confirmed Thursday that six of the seven suspects involved in bombs that were planted in the capital will serve six months each of pre-trial detention.

They face charges of use explosive devices and manufacture or possession of explosive materials.

The six men suspects are surnamed Gutiérrez-Pizarro who is a lawyer, Ureña-Wong, Sandoval-Alvarado, Bourbon-Navarro, Calderón-Navarro and Navarro-Naranjo.

According to the prosecutor, the other suspect, a woman surnamed Fernández-Castro, who is a public school teacher, was not jailed. Instead, a judge of the Criminal Court ordered other precautionary measures such as signing a certificate of assistance every 15 days before the court, continuing to live at the same address and not having contact with the other suspects.

The Prosecutor's Office said it would appeal the precautionary measures against the woman and is waiting for the Criminal Court to set a date for a new hearing.

In this new hearing the request for pretrial detention will be sought again because she is  suspected of committing the crime of support and services for terrorism, said prosecutors in a statement.

On Oct 22, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported, the agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization with support from officers of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security arrested the seven people accused of belonging to a gang of terrorists who threaten the country's security.

They are accused of planting two bombs in the capital and trying to plant a third to underscore their political views. One bomb was placed at the office of a legislative deputy and the other was at a television station.

"The seven people arrested are linked with three crimes: fire or explosion, manufacturing or possession of materials and explosives and support and services for terrorism," said Emilia Navas, the attorney general.

The first raid was carried out in Pérez Zeledón, in the southern zone of the country, where agents believe that explosives would have been made.

The second raid took place in the Quircot district in the province of Cartago, where the alleged leader lives.

The rest of the raids were carried out in the districts of Alajuelita and Desamparados, both in the province of San José, where the other five suspects were arrested.

According to data from the investigation provided by the judicial agents, the suspects are accused of being the people who placed explosives in the Legislative Assembly building June 26 causing damage to the office of Deputy Zoila Rosa Volio.

Also, judicial agents reported that it is suspected that the same group placed another explosive July 27, in the Canal 7 building in Sabana.

According to the investigations, the explosives were manufactured in Pérez Zeledón and transferred to Quircot and the house of the alleged leader.

According to Walter Espinoza, director of the Judicial Investigation Organization, "it is possible that the gang was planning another explosion during the Independence Day celebrations."

Judicial agents hold this theory because, on Sept. 14t, the eve of Independence Day celebrations, the suspect surnamed Borbon was arrested traveling by bus from Tejar del Guarco in the Province of Cartago to San José. The man carried explosive materials inside his backpack, judicial agents said.

In another terrorism case, in July three men accused of attempting to incite an uprising against the nation's government were jailed for pre-trial detention.


The three suspects faced a judge in San Carlos in the province of Alajuela. They are accused of producing and distributing on social networks a video to call for citizens to protest and take up arms against President Carlos Alvarado.

The Prosecutor's Office said the trio styled themselves as members of the Frente Patriota 7 de Julio, which translates into the Patriotic Front of July 7. That is the date the video appeared.

Prosecutors identified the three men by the surnames Sequeira-Mendiola, 60, Fernández-Ramírez, 34, and Masís-Artavia, 54. The office said that the specific charge was mutiny.

According to the prosecutor's report, the two men Sequeira-Mendiola and Fernández-Ramírez were arrested in San Carlos in the northern zone. Masís-Artavia was arrested at a farm in the sector of Río Cuarto in Alajuela. He is suspect of complicity with the alleged revolutionary group, prosecutors said.

The Judicial Investigation Organization said a video made by the group was published on social networks July 7, and it urged the Costa Rican people to stage a coup against the president. The video showed at least 15 masked individuals, the judicial agency said.


One of the men detained, Sequeira, has a criminal record for fraud, the judicial report said, adding that he was convicted but had not yet been jailed to serve a sentence. There was a warrant for his arrest, it said.

The other suspect arrested, Masis, is a former police officer with a large criminal record, judicial agents reported. He is suspected of having filmed the video.

President Alvarado, in speaking of the threat, said that "Costa Rica has a route to solve its problems in peace and that is the only one that we must follow."



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Should the Prosecutor's Office give the same pre-trial prison to all the seven alleged members of a terrorist gang?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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