  With the support
of the U.S. Coast Guard plane, a boat was detected 50
kilometers away from Punta Burica Beach.
/ Ministry of Security courtesy photo. |
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 Published Monday, August 3, 2020 The
U.S. Coast Guard supports in
arresting suspects of international drug trafficking By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
In a matter of two hours, the U.S. Coast Guard crew, in a joint effort with the National Coast Guards Service, intercepted two boats detaining six men and seized approximately 915 kilos of cocaine, announced the Ministry of Security. According to the ministry, in the first case, with the support of the U.S. Coast Guard plane, a boat was detected 50 kilometers away from Punta Burica Beach, on the Pacific Coast border between Costa Rica and Panama. When the Costa Rican coast guards located the ship, the crew tried to flee and threw packages into the sea. However, after chasing them over a distance of approximately three kilometers, the coastguards intercepted the boat, detained the four crew members, and recovered the drug that was floating in the sea. The boat was registered with the name "God and time." The crew of four men consisted of two Colombian nationals surnamed Murillo-Colorado, and Orobio-Mondicnero. Also, an Ecuadorian man surnamed Tigre-Astudillo and a Costa Rican surnamed Dosman-Espinoza. The drug shipment was recovered by the Coastguards, who took it to the Golfito Port in Puntarenas Province. Once there, the agents of the Drug Control Police reviewed the packages, reporting 415 packages of cocaine, weighing approximately one kilogram each. The second case was when a U.S. Coast Guards plane returning to the United States detected a speedboat located about 70 km offshore from Punta Burica Beach. The officers of the National Coast Guards Service located the speedboat and arrested two Costa Rican men, surnamed Esquivel- Solís and Chavarria- Zepeda. The detained boat, registered with the name "Commando V" carried a shipment of several bags containing a large number of packages. When the suspects and the drugs were brought to port, officers from the Drug Control Police verified that they were 500 packages, each weighing approximately one kilogram, of cocaine. In both cases, the suspects were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and waiting until a judge orders the pre-trial measures against them for the alleged crime of drug trafficking. Video of the suspects being captured can be reached on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Security. This is the second case of drug trafficking suspects detained with the support of the U.S. Coast Guards in less than one month.  On July 20, with the support of the Colombia Navy and the U.S. Coast Guards, the Costa Rican Drug Control Police captured the crew of a boat that transported approximately two tons of cocaine, announced the Ministry of Security. According to the Ministry, the operation was carried between Saturday and Sunday when an alert was received from the U.S. Coast Guards and the Colombian Navy, about the detection of a ship with an alleged drug shipping entering waters of the Caribbean off the coast of Costa Rica. The Costa Rican Coast Guard Service responded to the alert with the work of two interceptor boats GC 38-9 and GC 38-17 from the Limón District station in Limón Province. In a patrol job with the support of the U.S. Coast Guards, the Costa Rican Air Surveillance Service detected the ship sailing about 20 nautical miles off Matina Port, in the same province. "The crew of that ship, upon noticing the police presence, began to throw the cargo into the water and fled to the south, trying to reach the border with Panama," the Ministry said in its statement. However, the ship was intercepted on Costa Rican waters, about 15 nautical miles from Westfalia Beach. "The vessel was intercepted for which several warning shots had to be fired," the ministry said. The guards detained four crew members, all men of Colombian nationality, surnamed Otero-Muñoz, Medina-Ramos, Pérez-Manjarrés and Chaverra-Valdez. The foreigners' ship “Lucas” had three 300 HP engines, in which 16-fuel containers loaded with approximately 650 liters of fuel were transported. After reviewing the ship, the coast guard officers could not find the drugs on board. They began a search, finding on Sunday the cargo that was floating off the coast of Cahuita Beach and Manzanillo Beach. The coastguards managed to recover 83 large bags plus 47 small packages of cocaine. The four foreign-born suspects were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they were interrogated by the judicial agents and waited until a judge ordered the pre-trial measures against them. The drugs were delivered to the Drug Controls Police at the Coast Guard station located in Portete Port in the same Province. The agents of the Drug Control Police confirmed that it was 2,093 packages with cocaine weighing approximately one kilogram each. Video of the boat being detained and suspects captured is up online on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Security. ---------------------- What else could the government do to confront the war on drug trafficking? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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