Costa Rican Police destroyed over 500,000 marijuana plants over the last two weeks in the remote region of the Talamanca. According to the Minister of Security, no arrests were made during the operation.

Talamanca holds some of the most inaccessible areas in Costa Rica. The country’s highest mountains lie thickly forested without much development. This makes traveling into Talamanca’s interior a difficult task.

Costa Rica still has an indigenous Indian population living in the secluded mountains. They cut away patches of forest to plant crops like plantains and corn. Often, they also plant marijuana as well. This agriculture is a necessity to the Indians who live well below the poverty line and in most cases, have little to no access to basic services or medical care.

According to officers, the area is increasingly deteriorating; in fact, ‘clearings’ can be seen that are affecting biodiversity, as well as much poverty and little attention to public services.

The June 7^th through June 27^th operation was a two pronged affair. Not only were the police there removing marijuana, but also helping in humanitarian efforts. The police gave out food, medicines and supplies to roughly 190 Indians living in the far-off communities of Talamanca.

With the 562,767 marijuana plants destroyed on this latest mission, the total number of plants destroyed in Talamanca goes up to 4.1 million over a mere two year period.

Source: Fox News Latino