Costa Rican authorities seize more than a ton of cocaine

The Costa Rican authorities 1,246 kilos of cocaine were seized this Sunday that they were hiding in a fishing boat and detained the four crew members of the boat, all of them Costa Rican nationals.

(Also: What the US government expects from the conference on Venezuela in Bogotá)

The Ministry of Security reported that the operation, in charge of the National Coast Guard Service, began on Saturday night in Pacific waters, 180 kilometers from the coast of Cabo Blanco, Puntarenas province.

(Also: Barbadillo, the prison in Peru where three former presidents are being held)

Over there, officers intercepted a Costa Rican-registered fishing vessel as part of the preventive work they are carrying out, and when conducting the review they found the shipment of cocaine hidden in the ice chests of the ship.

The seized shipment is 60 bags for a total weight of 1,246 kilos and the detainees are 4 Costa Ricans surnames Serrano Masís, Guevara Villagra, Zúñiga Ruiz and Serrano Rivera, who will face charges for international drug trafficking, which in Costa Rica is punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.

(You may be interested in: ‘I looked at my foot and my fingers were missing’, the drama of the mines in Ukraine)

Costa Rica is considered a transit site for drugs from South America, but also storage, operations in which Costa Ricans usually participate in alliance with foreign groups.

In recent years there has also been a frequent arrest of members of gangs that sent cocaine to Europe through containers.

EFE