Costa Rica has for decades a tourism destination, however, according to the "How a Tourist Paradise Became a Drug-Trafficking Magnet" report published on Sunday by the New York Times, the country is being infiltrated by drug cartels seeking new trafficking routes to evade the authorities.

The U.S. newspaper based in New York City states that in 2020 Costa Rica surpassed Mexico to become the world’s leading transshipment point for cocaine destined for the United States, and Europe among other countries. Last year, Mexico returned to the top spot on leading drug trafficking, "but Costa Rica remains close behind," reads the report.

As drug trafficking rose throughout the country, so did crime. "Homicides in Costa Rica soared 53 percent from 2020 to 2023," reads the report. Local gangs battle for control of routes within the country to become the local representatives for the rival Mexican criminal groups such as the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

“There used to be a limit here, people weren’t killed indiscriminately,” Mario Zamora Cordero, Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Security, told NYT. “What we are witnessing, we have never seen before. It’s the Mexicanization of violence, to provoke terror and panic.”

Costa Rica seized 21 tons of cocaine last year, although Mr. Zamora told to NYT that hundreds of tons passed through the country undetected annually.

The report stated that cocaine addiction, Fentanyl is starting to increase in Costa Rica. In November 2023, Costa Rica’s first fentanyl laboratory was found and dismantled by the local police working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Many of the confiscated fentanyl pills were bound for the United States and Europe, according to a U.S. cable from the embassy in San José obtained by NYT.

“Costa Rica is a prime target for cartels in search of new markets for fentanyl,” read the cable, which was marked “sensitive” and sent to Washington last year. The organizations are bent on “transforming Costa Rica into a new hub.”

The complete piece may be read on the NYT website.

The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) works closely with Costa Rican security partners.

Through cooperation and assistance from INL and other law enforcement agencies, Costa Rica confronts its drug trafficking problem by intercepting and confiscating illicit drugs.

Recently, the U.S. Coast Guard led an anti-drug operation that resulted in the arrest of five Colombians for trafficking more than half a ton of cocaine on the Costa Rica Caribbean Coast.

Narcotics seizures by the Costa Rican government hit new records in 2020 and 2021, with 72.7 and 71.1 metric tons seized respectively. However, seizures declined in 2022 to 54.3 metric tons, according to the U.S. Department of State.

The U.S. assigned over $269 million in bilateral and regional security assistance to strengthen and modernize Costa Rica’s security forces, improve local security throughout the country, reduce the influence of corruption, and enhance the justice sector’s ability to investigate and prosecute transnational criminals, the Department of State, added in its statement.

This assistance includes equipment donations, training, and technical assistance that enhance Costa Rica’s capacity to confront the growing threat of organized crime and drug trafficking. 

In June, the U.S. ​​donated almost $700,000 to the Ministry of Public Security to improve security tactics and equipment for police officers and agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ).

Costa Rican authorities urge people to report any suspicion of drug sales or trafficking to the ten-digit confidential line 800-8000-645 or fast line 11-76, where bilingual agents can answer calls in English or Spanish.