Police arrest man and his nephew with
more than $99,000 hidden in his car

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Agents of the delegation of Garabito in Puntarenas*, arrested two men, one surnamed Quesada-Noel, 44 years old, and his nephew surnamed Noel-Valladares, 21 years old, as suspects of money laundering for apparently hiding $99,200 in cash in the car.

The police report that agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization received confidential information about a car was parked in a tourist area in Jacó Beach* containing a large amount of cash.

"The police officers moved to the place and made the review of the vehicle and they found a package hidden in the back seat, which contained approximately $99,200 in cash," said the police in their report.

The men were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry, where they were interview by the judicial agents. They must wait for a judge to order pre-trial measures against them.

The money was confiscated by the police and handed over to the Public Ministry as part of the proof of the case.

This is the second case in a little over a month where the police seized a large amount of money as part of a possible case of money laundering.

May 1, as A.M. Costa Rica reported, agents in an operation joint with officials of the Public Prosecutor's Office, carried out a raid on a house in the China town* of San Jose, arrested five Chinese men surnamed Li, Xie, Feng, Sheng and Hu, suspected of money laundering, and seizing approximately $3 million in cash.

"This operation is the second part of an investigation that began in August 2018," said Walter Espinoza, General Director of Judicial Investigation Organization. "When we made a raid on an apartment located in a building in Paseo Colon, where a Chinese person was arrested and was approximately $500,000 in cash was seized."

More than eight months later, in May, the second operation in this case involving money laundering and alleged drug trafficking was carried out. "We have been investigating the way in which the money came to the country, was stored and deposited into the country's financial system, with which it was a matter of money laundering," said Espinoza.

The Prosecutor 's Office confirmed that the five suspects were taken to the cells of the Public Ministry where they were interviewed by the judicial agents and detained when the judge ordered six months of pre-trial jail.

The initial case happened in August of 2018, when one Chinese citizen surnamed Wen, was also sentenced to pre-trial detention as money laundering suspect.

Investigations, monitoring, and follow-ups carried out by agents, resulted in the arrest on a money laundering allegation of the 24-year-old Chinese man, also a naturalized Ecuadoran. A judge of Public Ministry sentenced three men of pre-trial detention in that case.

The investigation began several weeks before his arrest, when the man was detected at the Juan Santamaría Airport* entering the country with a large sum of money. This was not the first time the man had entered the country and declared a large sum on money.

"He lived in an apartment located in a luxurious building in Paseo Colon" said police in its report. As part of the investigation, a raid was conducted at the apartment, where a luxury car was also seized.

According to the documentation found by police, the luxury car was purchased with $65,000 in cash. An additional $468,760 was found hidden in the apartment and is now evidence in the investigation.

Also seized were two computers, two cell phones, a banknote counting machine, storage devices, stacks of ₡1,000 colon notes and stacks of dollar banknotes.





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