Costa Rican coffee exporters have decided to team up against what they consider organized crime, which causes losses over $3 million. For over a year, criminal gangs have been stealing coffee containers and many have even reached their destination country full of debris. To date more than 18 containers have been stolen.

As part of the modus operandi, which is very diverse, containers were stolen in a variety of situations: from 500 meters away from the place where they were loaded up to the port of destination, through all possible times and places (warehouses, roads, transport, land, etc).

“This way of stealing our containers is not for beginners, requires an entire organization with logistics, personnel, infrastructure, forklifts, weapons, communications systems, and even people who facilitate the movement of trucks,” said Eric Thormaehlen, president of the National Chamber of Exporters of Coffee.

But the offense goes beyond the theft. Once they have it in their hands, the grain follows the “coffee washing or bleaching” procedure, in which it re-enters evading taxes and the legal system.

Given this situation, coffee exporters are making a passionate call to the judicial authorities to take strong research and finally find those responsible and stop the thefts. The situation generates loses to both the exporter and the producer of coffee as well as the consumer, as it affects prices and demand. It is clear that the whole chain of coffee is affected by this situation, because “we cannot sell more expensive coffee, by the mere fact that thefts are occuring” said Speaker of the House of Coffee Exporters.