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    Photo via U.S. Coast Guard.
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Published
on Tuesday, November 12,
2024
By
the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
As part of the Joint Patrol Treaty
with the United States, the U.S.
Coast Guard led two anti-drug
operations simultaneously that
resulted in the arrest of five
suspects of drug trafficking and the
seizure of about two tons of drugs. The first operation began on
Saturday when a U.S. Coast Guard
plane spotted a suspicious 30-foot
go-fast boat crossing the Pacific
Coast with no visible registration
plate number or country flag. U.S. officials instructed the
Costa Rican Coast Guard to follow
the alert's coordinates to intercept the boat
around 140 nautical miles off Golfito Beach, located in Puntarenas Province. The two Ecuadorian crew members were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking. The suspects' names were not released.
Authorities towed the boat to the
Golfito Beach Coast Guard Station. On Sunday, specialists from the Drug
Control Police conducted a more
thorough inspection of the cargo and
found 1,000 cocaine packages, each
weighing approximately one kilogram. The boat, drugs, fuel, and
electronic navigation equipment were confiscated as evidence in this case. The second case was reported simultaneously. The same U.S. Coast Guard plane
spotted a suspicious 38-foot go-fast
boat with no visible registration
plate number or country flag, crossing near Quepos Beach, in Puntarenas. U.S. officials instructed the
Costa Rican Coast Guard to intercept
the boat. The three crew Colombian members were arrested as drug trafficker suspects. Similar to the previous case, the suspects' names were not disclosed.
Authorities towed the boat to
Quepos Coast Guard Station, where
specialists from the Drug Control
Police found 349 marijuana packages
plus 570 cocaine packages, each
weighing approximately one kilogram. The boat, drugs, fuel and
electronic navigation equipment were confiscated as evidence in this case.
The five
suspects were taken to the
cells of the
Puntarenas
Public
Ministry,
where they had
to wait for a
judge to order
a pre-trial
prison
indictment of
the alleged
crime of
international
drug
trafficking.
Authorities
call for
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.
So far this
year Costa Rica seized
almost 17 tons
of cocaine and
about 14 tons
of marijuana,
authorities
added.
Last
year, Security
authorities
seized 43 tons
of drugs and
arrested over
190,000
suspects.
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.
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.
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