Last week, agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) in San Jose conducted a nighttime raid on a cabaret that allegedly provided more than just erotic dancing. According to a press release by the OIJ, the establishment also served as a den of prostitution, and a couple reportedly derived proceeds from each sexual transaction that transpired therein.

The law enforcement operation took place at around 10:30 pm on a busy Friday night. The agents had reportedly received information from a confidential informant that indicated that prostitutes engaged in sexual acts with their clients right in the nightclub, and that they were expected to surrender half of their profits to a couple who acted as their managers.

The aforementioned couple, a man in his mid-60s and a woman in her early 50s, were arrested under suspicion of deriving proceeds from prostitution as third parties, a crime often referred to as pandering or “pimping.” Prostitution is not illegal in Costa Rica; however, sexual transactions for profit must be limited to the clients and providers. Acting as a manager, procurer, promoter, brothel keeper, madam, or as a pimp in Costa Rica could result in a felony conviction that could be punished with a prison term and a monetary fine.

As it happens, when the OIJ agents stormed the nightclub, two prostitutes were busy entertaining clients, who were rudely interrupted and ordered to put their clothes back on.

A preliminary field report by the agents suggests that clients paid 64,000 colones (a little more than $125) to spend an hour with the prostitutes, who ostensibly also worked as nude dancers at this establishment. The arrested couple supposedly received 50 percent of each transaction, which purportedly took place in discrete, darkened backrooms. The couple putatively arranged the sexual trysts, which were often negotiated to 30 minutes for 32,000 colones.

Some residents of the Mata Redonda district of San Jose, where the raid took place, mentioned that they were shocked; shocked to learn that prostitution would take place at a nightclub in Costa Rica.

On the OIJ press release, the name of the raided nightclub is conspicuously missing. However, its location suggests that it was a known late-night establishment located about three blocks east from the Municipality of San Jose. It is important to note that in Costa Rica the term “nightclub” applies to cabarets where performers disrobe and dance for their audiences (male dancers entertaining female audiences are not uncommon); dance clubs are known as “discos.”