A joint operation led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Coast Guard resulted in the seizure of more than 1.5 tons of marijuana and the arrest of three suspects off Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast.

The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) said the operation began on Thursday after the DEA alerted local officials about a suspicious “go-fast” vessel with no visible registration or national flag traveling about 50 nautical miles off the Matapalo Beach in the southern area of Puntarenas Province.

Acting on a tip, a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft tracked the suspicious vessel and relayed its coordinates, enabling the Costa Rican Coast Guard to intercept the 32-foot boat and detain its three-man crew.

Inside the vessel, officers found large sacks containing dozens of packages initially believed to be marijuana.

The suspects, a 29-year-old Colombian identified by the last name Segura-Obando, a 32-year-old Nicaraguan identified as Lackwoodt-Gordon, and a 45-year-old Costa Rican identified as Smith-Tucker, were taken into custody.

The boat was towed to the Golfito Gulf Coast Guard Station, where Drug Control Police specialists conducted a more thorough inspection of the cargo and found about 1,500 marijuana packages weighing approximately one kilogram each. A total of 1.5 tons of marijuana was seized.

Authorities confiscated the boat, the drug, fuel, and electronic navigation equipment as evidence.

The detainees are being held under the jurisdiction of the Puntarenas Public Ministry. Prosecutors are seeking pretrial detention on international drug trafficking charges.

Authorities urged the public to report possible trafficking activity through Costa Rica’s confidential hotline at 800-8000-645 or its rapid-response line at 1176, which offers bilingual assistance in English and Spanish.

The operation was carried out under the Joint Maritime Patrol Treaty between Costa Rica and the United States. Since 2018, the U.S. State Department has provided more than $269 million in bilateral and regional security assistance to Costa Rica.

  

The support includes equipment, training and technical expertise aimed at strengthening law enforcement, combating organized crime and improving the justice system’s ability to prosecute transnational criminal groups.

  

Costa Rica has reported some of the highest drug seizure totals in Central America in recent years. According to MSP data, authorities confiscated nearly 32 tons of cocaine and 15 tons of marijuana in 2024.

A recent report by InSight Crime, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, ranked Costa Rica among the top three Central American countries with the highest cocaine seizures.

The MSP is the national security agency that oversees citizen safety, public order and anti-crime efforts.

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