By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization with support from officers of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security arrested Tuesday seven people accused of belonging to a gang of terrorists who threaten the country's security. They are accused to planting two bombs in the capital and trying to plant a third to underscore their political views.

According to the judicial agents, the suspects are six men surnamed as follows: Gutiérrez-Pizarro who is a lawyer, Ureña-Wong, Sandoval-Alvarado, Borbon-Navarro, Navarro-Naranjo and Calderón-Navarro. Also a suspect is a woman surnamed Fernández-Castro who is a public school teacher.

The seven suspects were jailed at the Public Ministry cells, where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and after that, they are facing a judge who will consider pre-trial measures.

"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."

The theory of the judicial agents is due to the fact that on Sept. 14, the eve of Independence Day celebrations, one of the suspects surnamed Borbon was arrested traveling by bus from Tejar del Guarco in the Province of Cartago to San José. The suspect carried explosive materials inside his backpack, judicial agents said.

In July three men accused of attempting to incite an uprising against the nation's government were jailed for pre-trial detention, as A.M. Costa Rica previously reported.


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 of Narcotrafficking and Related Offenses 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 in 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 people individuals, the judicial agency said.

The one of the first two 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. His detention was made inside a property where he was accompanied by a woman with the last name of Gamboa-Freer. The woman is a cousin of the former magistrate surnamed Gamboa-Sánchez. The woman was not arrested.

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 speed up the process of pre-trial measures of the members of the alleged terrorist gang? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to: news@amcostarica.com

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