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   - Photo via Ministry of Security - |
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Published on Wednesday, September 22,
2021
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff U.S.
Specialists Homeland Security
Investigations specialist, HSI, in a joint
effort with the National Police of Panama,
cooperated with the General Directorate of
Migration in Costa Rica for an operation
of trafficking of immigrants who were
traveling to the United States.
According to the Directorate, the operation took place in many communities located along the border zones with Panama and Nicaragua, where 15 houses were raided and 21 people were arrested as suspects of migrant trafficking. In the investigation, a gang was detected that allegedly had its two operation centers, one in Corredores Canton, Puntarenas Province (near the border with Panama) and the other in La Cruz Canton in Guanacaste Province, near the border with Nicaragua. Allegedly, the gang was dedicated to smuggling immigrants from the Paso Canoas which is near the border control post with Panama to the Peñas Blancas area near the border control post with Nicaragua. It is alleged that the gang provided accommodation and hid the immigrants until reaching Nicaragua, Migration said in its statement. According to the case, the gang charged immigrants between $14,000 to $22,000 per person to be illegally transferred from Panama to Nicaragua. "It was possible to determine during the investigation process that these people (referring to the immigrants) had the United States as their final goal. That has been taken as an advantage by the gang of the need for these people to migrate, regardless of putting their lives at risk, by the means or routes used to achieve their goal," Migration said in its statement. The investigation lasted about a year, it was determined that among the trafficked immigrants there were people from Yemen, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Burkina, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, Angola, Mauritania, Haiti, Cuba, Chile and Venezuela. In that period 174 trafficked immigrants were identified. The detained suspects were identified with the surnames: Arias-Molina (allegedly one of the gang leader), Salgado - Murillo (allegedly another gang leader), Blanco- Mora, Pérez- Jiménez, Cajina- Agüero, Agüero- Mesen, Rodríguez- Orozco, Gutiérrez- Cortés, Jiménez- Madrigal, Montiel- Montiel, Miranda -Ortiz, Lobo- Muñoz, Torres- Marchena, Vásquez- Artavia, Leal -Molina, Bejarano- Morales, López Carmona, Hernández- Rodríguez, Zelaya- García, García - Chávez and Hernández Martínez.  The 21 suspects were divided into three groups. Some were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry in Guanacaste, others to the Ministry in Puntarenas, and a third group was taken to the Public Ministry in San José in one of the Air Surveillance Service planes. They must wait for a judge to order the pre-trial prison accused of the alleged crime of human trafficking. According to the authorities, people who enter the country illegally are arrested and taken to the cells of the Migration Police, where they must wait for a judge to issue the extradition order against them. For example, this year 6,733 Haitian nationality people have been extradited. A short video of the operation was shared by the ministry and can be seen on the A.M. Costa Rica YouTube channel. Officials from the Professional Migration Police, the Air Surveillance Service, the Ministry of Security, the Drug Control Police and the Judicial Investigation Organization also participated in the raids and arrests. Authorities call for people to report any suspicion of human trafficking to the confidential line 800-8000-645 or 11-76, where bilingual agents can answer calls in English or Spanish. --------------------- What is the penalty for human trafficking in your country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com            
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