On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four Costa Rican nationals, as well as two Costa Rica-based entities, for their involvement in narcotics trafficking and money laundering. 

U.S. authorities noted that a key global cocaine transshipment hub, Costa Rica, has become an increasingly significant way-point for criminal groups trafficking cocaine into the United States. 

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), cocaine continues to pose a serious threat to the public, causing over 22,000 overdose deaths in the United States in the 12-month period ending in October 2024.

“Drug cartels are poisoning Americans and making our communities more dangerous by trafficking cocaine, often laced with fentanyl, into the United States,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley. The sanctions being issued target key drug smugglers involved in transporting drugs into the United States. Treasury, in close coordination with U.S. law enforcement and our Costa Rican partners, will continue to use all available tools to disrupt narcotrafficking organizations that threaten the safety of Americans.”

The action is the culmination of a coordinated investigation with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) San José Country Office, the DEA Dallas Field Office, and Costa Rica’s Office of the Attorney General.

U.S. authorities stated that Costa Rica continues to see increasing rates of violence, primarily driven by criminal organizations competing for control of drug trafficking routes. 

Data shows that 2024 was the second-most violent year on record for Costa Rica, and the data for 2025 thus far indicates the country is on pace for a similarly violent year. Costa Rican security and police officials attribute the increase in violence to drug trafficking organizations fighting over control of territory in the country. 

One region of Costa Rica where violence has increased significantly is Limón, which recorded the highest homicide rate in the country in 2024. Since the 2019 opening of the Moín seaport in Limón, criminal groups have continued to fight for control of the port and its surrounding territory to ship cocaine inside containers, leaving the port. 

On November 15, 2023, OFAC designated one of the most prolific drug traffickers in Limón, a man surnamed Bell-Fernandez, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059 for the significant role he played in Costa Rica’s transformation into a major narcotics transit hub as well as the violence associated with his operations.

In May 2025, Costa Rica approved a constitutional reform allowing the extradition of Costa Rican nationals accused of drug trafficking and terrorism, to include two of the individuals being targeted by the OFAC, surnamed Gamboa-Sanchez and Lopez-Vega.

Recently, the Criminal Court of the Treasury in San José acquitted Gamboa-Sanches in a high-profile influence-peddling trial, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the crime occurred.

On June 23, 2025, Costa Rican police arrested Gamboa and Lopez on drug trafficking charges in response to an extradition request from the United States.

"Prior to his arrest, Gamboa was a major drug trafficker in Costa Rica," OFAC said in its statement.  "Gamboa had facilitated the shipment of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine from Colombia through Costa Rica to the United States and Europe."

According to U.S. authorities, as a former Costa Rican Vice Minister of Public Security, Gamboa used his extensive network of contacts within the government to acquire information about ongoing counternarcotics investigations.  "He subsequently sold this information to the targets of those exact investigations," the statement reads. "Gamboa worked with narcotics traffickers across Costa Rica, bribing police and government officials to facilitate cocaine transport."

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said that Gamboa worked with numerous drug trafficker suspects in Costa Rica, including OFAC-designated Bell, two men identified with the surnames James-Wilson and Arias-Monge, and the now-incarcerated Lopez.

U.S. authorities stated that Gamboa also laundered his illicit drug proceeds through his companies in Costa Rica, two of which are being targeted on Monday: a company “doing business as” a name and a sole proprietorship owned by Gamboa and headquartered in San José, and a Limón-based soccer club in Costa Rica’s second division.