Most (100) of the 234 known Costa Ricans in prison abroad got there because of narcotics, according to a recent study by Immigration in Costa Rica. The others (23) were nabbed for robberies.

And most of them ran afoul of U.S. police (95), 31 in Panama, 29 in Mexico and 22 in Nicaragua, the count shows. But Immigration sub-director Freddy Montero says some data from the U.S. is still pending.

He added, “This is an advance. We still lack all the Pacific Coast, Florida and for me, this is important because 40% of Ticos are in New York and New Jersey, followed by Los Angeles and Florida.”

As for Costa Rica, Montero says that between 2001 and 2010, 28,600 foreigners were detained by the courts, although a great many were set free.

Montero explained that the large number in the United States prisons was due mostly to that country being a magnet for illegal immigration as well a narco-traffic. The route of “burros” carrying drugs runs from Panama up through Central America.

La Nacion noted a few of the high profile cases involving Costa Ricans abroad such as the 633 kilos of cocaine captured Oct. 20 in Panama aboard a yacht owned by a Tico.

Then there is the case of a pilot and an engineer, both Ticos, arrested in Manhattan on Aug. 8 for alleged money laundering and criminal conspiracy.

Finally, there is the highest profile case of all, at least for Latin America, involving Alejandro (Palidejo) Jimenez. The Costa Rican is accused of masterminding the attempted murder of a Nicaraguan and the death of Argentine pop music icon Facundo Cabral in Guatemala and of drug trafficking in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Source: Fijatevos.com