A couple of weekends ago, the men and women of the Coast Guard service of Costa Rica celebrated their 12^th anniversary with a series of events in the coastal communities they are sworn to protect. Once the festivities were completed, the members of our Coast Guard got back to work and apprehended three suspects who were caught smuggling leatherback turtle eggs.

In Costa Rica, the Coast Guard service does not limit its operations to the oceans and other bodies of water. Members of the service often conduct enforcement operations on land based on intelligence they gather at sea. Such was the case last week, when environmental protection agents assigned to the Coast Guard Station in Limon traveled to the Matina canton, specifically to the neighborhood of Larga Distancia de Catorce Millas. The agents were on the lookout for suspected poachers of eggs laid by leatherback turtles.

The suspicions of the environmental protection agents proved right: three suspected poachers were on the move, using the railroad tracks as their path near the Caribbean shores to a nearby neighborhood -possibly to meet with a smuggling contact or a fence to cash them out. The men were surprised to run into the Coast Guard agents on dry land. They were detained on the spot and turned over to prosecutors in Limon, where they will likely have to answer to infractions against Law Number 8325 – Protection of Sea Turtles in Costa Rica.

The Coast Guard agents rescued a total of 672 eggs that day, which were given to the Paradero Marine Turtle Protection Project in Moin. The volunteers will find a nest for the eggs and will care for the hatchlings. The leatherback turtle is currently arriving en masse to nesting sites in Limon, and the Coast Guard will remain vigilant. Further north in Tortuguero, the Coast Guard is planning security operations to interdict poachers in September and October, when a massive arrival of two sea turtle species (not leatherbacks) is expected.

Law enforcement in Costa Rica has been busy trying to stop the malicious poaching of sea turtle eggs. The Costa Rica Star has frequently reported on the efforts of Fuerza Publica officers in trying to curb this nefarious trade.

As part of the 12^th anniversary celebration of the Coast Guard service in Costa Rica, the Minister of Public Safety Mario Zamora called attention to the investment made in the protection of our oceanic resources -particularly the brand new station in Tortuguero. Future investments will include the acquisition of two more patrol boats. Happy birthday!