Updated with more details on December 21, 206

By Wendy Anders

Yesterday police rescued two women and one man from Ecuador in Quepos near Manuel Antonio National Park on Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast. They three  appear to be victims of human trafficking.

The three Ecuadorians, who were being driven in a Chevrolet car near Los Sueños, a district of Quepos, were found to be without proper legal documents, said police press officials.

The driver, a Costa Rican man by the last name of Álvarez, was detained. The local prosecutor’s office will hold him as part of an investigation into his possible involvement with human trafficking operations in the area.

This case was discovered during a special dawn-to-early-morning police surveillance program that police implement in strategic locations, said public safety officials.

Monday’s rescue comes just days after four other Ecuadorians were discovered in a car at a police check point also in Quepos.

On Friday, December 16, the car’s driver who appears to be involved in human trafficking was transporting the four men whose entry into Costa Rica hadn’t been registered, said police press sources.

The man, a 50-year-old Costa rican named Montero was arrested and is being held while the case is investigated, said police in a press statement.

The men were identified as having the last names Lliguicota (18), Andrade (24), Jaramillo (38), and Tacuri (56), and had entry stamps into Panama. They were sent to immigration officials to be processed accordingly, said police.