Four underage females of ages ranging between 16 and 17 were detained in Costa Rica as suspects of recruiting other two teenagers to have sex for money. According to the information gathered by the Public Ministry, the two minors that acted as pimps would receive between ¢75,000 and ¢175,000.(US$134.00 and $312.50) depending on whether the girl recruited was or not a virgin. The young ladie...

Photo credit: CRHOY The Costa Rican police and members of the Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ) chased a van in the area of La Sabana this Wednesday morning; during the chase some of the men abandoned the car close to the baseball field in La Sabana and tried to escape running, there was an exchange of gunfire and as a result one of the suspects received a bullet in his back, the police au...

According to the Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ) the last few weeks there’s been an increase in the number of homicides in comparison to the average of the previous months. The criminal organizations are using 9mm fully automatic machine guns that allow burst fire in a matter of a few seconds. A lot of the incidents are confrontations between gangs that are looking to settle scores ...

Four Mexicans linked to the robberies of two jewelry stores in Escazú, San José, Costa Rica back on October 31, were arrested this Wednesday, three at the Juan Santamaria International Airport when they were trying to leave the country, and one was arrested in San Jose. The jewelry stores targeted were Eurochronos in Multiplaza Mall and Tiempo Global in Plaza Colonial Escazu; at the moment of t...

According to the Costa Rica Drug Institute the Costa Rican police has seized 127 tons (127,000 kilograms) of cocaine between 2010 and 2017 and a quarter of this is a result of the Jointed Patrol Agreement with the United States. So far this 2017 the police has seized a record 27 tons. The majority of the drug is transported in boats, however, ground transportation is also common which is why t...

The Ministry of Public Security stopped another boat loaded with cocaine in the South Pacific. The Costa Rican Coast Guard received an alert and immediately made their way to intercept the boat with the help of the Aerial Surveillance Service in the area of Cabo Matapalo in Golfito at 6:40 a.m. this Tuesday morning. The motorboat “Explorer Fishing” had three men on board when it was stopped,...

The Treasury Criminal Court ordered today a lien over the assets (properties, cars, bank accounts) of the seven people detained in relation to the “Cementazo” corruption scandal in Costa Rica. The Court admitted the request made by the Costa Rica Attorney General Office made last Friday as a precautionary measure after it had filed a civil action for compensatory damages on November 29th. A...

Three bodies turned up this Saturday in different points of San Jose apparently executed. According to information provided by the police authorities, one of the bodies was found in San Francisco de dos Rios, the second one near the Colegio de Abogados (Bar Association) in Zapote, and the third one was close to Cascada Azul motel in this same county. One of the bodies corresponds to a woma...

(Photo Archive) Another boat was stopped 55 nautical miles from the coast of Quepos, Puntarenas, carrying 1.3 tons of cocaine, confirmed the Costa Rican police. The authorities received an alert and thanks to the patrolling operations they carry out with the support of the United States they were able to stop the boat with four men aboard, the captain identified with the last names Manzanares...

The Office of Judicial Investigations (OIJ) arrested this Wednesday morning 31 police officers from Limon who are suspects of illegal searches, abuse of authority, and stealing evidence. The Minister of Security, Gustavo Mata, confirmed the information and explained that the operation was carried out in coordination with the judicial police. Apparently, the detained men are members of differ...

Costa Rica’s Attorney General Emilia Navas ordered this Wednesday morning the search of the house and offices of congressmen Otto Guevara and Victor Morales Zapata as well as the vice-ministry of Treasury (Ministerio de Hacienda) Fernando Rodriguez. The police arrived at the “pink house” or Congress offices (Asamblea Legislativa) along with the Attorney General and forced their entry to the ...

In June, 2017, the former head of the Costa Rica Public Force (Fuerza Publica) was arrested for traveling in a false-bottom truck with 237 kilograms of cocaine – probably destined for the USA via Mexico.  In October, between 800-1,000 kilos of cocaine were found floating near Golfo Dulce. Last week, 785 kilos of cocaine were seized by authorities near Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia. Last Friday ...

This will be the third consecutive year in which Costa Rica surpasses the rate of 10 homicides per every 100 thousand people, rate which the World Health Organization already considers as an epidemic. In 2015 the country registered a total of 557 homicides and in 2016 this number was of 578. So far this year there’s been 528 homicides and the Ministry of Public Security estimates it will reach ...

The Costa Rican coast guard intercepted a motorboat in Golfo Dulce in the Pacific carrying over one ton of cocaine. The National Coast Guard Service of the Ministry of Public Security was in a routine patrolling operation when they spotted a suspicious boat with two-men aboard, the police had to chase the motorboat which they were able to intercept close to Puerto Jimenez, however the men disre...

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security expressed their concern through their Facebook page after a Judge in Criminal Court set a man free who was arrested yesterday by the Drug Control Police (PCD), according to the post the court didn’t establish any precautionary measures. The man, of last names Fuertes Hernandez, was detained yesterday aboard a Hyundai truck with 321 kilos of cocaine, ...

Testigo Directo (Direct Witness) is a Colombian TV show that presents independent investigative journalism on different sensitive topics, one of their series “El ventilador de los narcos” presents detailed information on the drug trafficking business in Colombia and even interviews with former members of cartels that explain in detail how the operations work. The show is presented by Rafael Poveda...

Once again, the Costa Rican Police found a load of cocaine, this time hidden in a truck that was being carried over a platform tow truck stopped during a routine road operation in the area of Jaco in Garabito, Puntarenas. The police officers stopped the tow truck, at around 1 p.m. and proceed to the visual inspection of the same and the white Hyundai truck carried on it; they noticed the Hyund...

Hans De La O Solis, a district attorney in charge of the division of “in flagrante delicto” in Heredia, Costa Rica was shot six times as he was arriving to his house in the community of El Jardin in Calle Fallas, Desamparados. The news was confirmed by the Public Ministry in a press release. According to the official version, De La O left his work at the District Attorney’s Office in Heredi...

The Ministry of Security confirmed the arrest of a man in Quepos who was driving a van with 18 illegal immigrants aboard. The arrest took place when officers were in the middle of routine controls in the roads of Quepos, Puntarenas, the officers stopped a van that was exceeding its passenger capacity, and requested the documents for all of them, however, only the driver had an identification do...

The Costa Rican Police detained on Sunday night three Mexican men in Guanacaste with 785 kilos of cocaine. Police officers were in a routine control operation in front of the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, when they saw two cars turn around, they immediately began the chase, after several minutes one of the cars was abandoned in the entrance to Playa Hermosa, the officers were...

The date was Sunday, April 6, 1986, the location, La Cruz de Alajuelita in San José, Costa Rica. For a catholic country like Costa Rica, this Sunday held a special significance since it marked the beginning of another Holy Week; but this day would go on to be part of the country’s history for something very far from this. Early that Sunday morning a woman named Rosario Zamora, 26 years-old at t...

The Court of Appeals reconfirmed on Friday the three month preventive detention for businessman Juan Carlos Bolaños and the six BCR executives, established on November 4  and in relation with the "Cementazo" corruption scandal. The attorneys of each of the seven defendants had presented their appeals and allegations and tried to convince Judge Hugo Porter to set their clients free or change the...

The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) saw many weaknesses in the way the Tobias Bolaños Airport is being managed that gave cause to irregularities and many times suspicious activities. So far this year the authorities discovered 27 unauthorized small airplanes in the hangars of the Pavas national airport; also, several cases of airplane owners trying to take fuel from the planes, ...

Costa Rican airport authorities seized a weapon and ammunition from a U.S citizen as he attempted to board an international flight, said the Public Security Ministry. The incident took place at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) outside of the capital city of San José, Costa Rica. The man had failed to report he was carrying a firearm and ammunition, which are not permitted on f...

Costa Rican Police seized 213 kilos of cocaine on Wednesday morning, concealed in a van. A Hyundai van was detained during a routine road check in the area of Turrúcares in Alajuela, the car was checked by the officers and a Yanko from the K-9 unit; it was the dog that alerted the officials of the presence of the drugs. The car was taken to the Alajuela police station where they proceeded to ch...

A few weeks ago, a Red Cross ambulance driver was threatened at knife-point and asked to hand over his cell phone when driving to the scene of an emergency in the agricultural town of Santa Rosa de Pocosol in the north-central region of San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica. This and other potentially life-threatening incidents involving aid workers in different parts of Costa Rica have the agency c...

A self proclaimed 5-star ocean front hotel on Costa Rica's northern Pacific was the scene of an unusual death in October, and the details are only getting stranger. Shortly after 42-year-old Shawn Edmonds was handcuffed by security guards at the Riu Guanacaste hotel after an apparent argument with hotel staff, the Kitchener, Ontario, Canada father fainted while sitting in a chair and was pronou...

Women killed by their current spouse or partner, or as a result of their female gender such as in a sexual assault, now number 24 so far in 2017 in Costa Rica. These "femicides," the legal term for this type of homicide, have left 18 children orphaned, 15 of whom are under the age of 18, said Costa Rica's Interinstitutional Subcommittee on Femicide, which is led by the Observatory on Gender Vio...

The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) reported bringing in two people for treatment for heart problems following a 6.9 magnitude earthquake this evening, Sunday, November 12 at 8:28 p.m. south of Jacó off the Costa Rican central Pacific coast. The individuals, who were from the Jacó vicinity, were rushed to the regional Puntarenas Hospital but were declared deceased shortly after being admitted...

The number of deported foreigners considered “dangerous” has duplicated in the last year. According to data by the Costa Rican General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners, effective deportations increased by 60%, going from 393 cases to 620, this is a result of a higher number of operations, 150% more, confirmed Esteban Obando, sub-director of Migration, while the number of migratory rej...

The upscale Multiplaza Escazú shopping center was the scene of two armed robberies in the span of eight days. One occurred last Tuesday, Oct. 31, and the second on Wednesday, November 8, 2017. The thefts alarmed customers and provoked a response from the Public Security Ministry who was surprised at the occurrences. In response, the shopping mall said they will be hiring armed guards, and ar...

Dominican women in Costa Rica, victims of global sex and human trafficking, have reported being married to Costa Ricans to obtain Costa Rican citizenship before being taken to Europe or the United States for exploitation, according to representatives of the Rahab Foundation, a Costa Rican non-profit dedicated to ending human trafficking and aided its victims. Networks dedicated to human traffic...

The name Juan Carlos Bolaños has been appearing in all media outlets throughout Costa Rica almost daily for the past six months; he is the main character in the corruption scandal known as “Cementazo”, but who is this man? And, why, all of a sudden has he become one of Costa Rica’s most polemic characters. Juan Carlos Bolaños was born in San José, Costa Rica in June,1979 and he was raised by hi...

For those of you following the china cement corruption scandal "Cementazo" in Costa Rica, this week has brought even more interesting things to light, affecting people such as the President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís. The President was put in the spotlight by congressman Víctor Hugo Morales Zapata who declared in front of the Commission investigating the ¨Cementazo¨ case that he always...

A U.S. citizen by the last name of Krause, who is on the Interpol alert list for sexual abuse crimes in the United States, was turned back Monday, November 6, 2017 after arriving at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) outside of San José, Costa Rica. Costa Rican immigration police stationed at the airport saw that Krause's name came up on an Interpol alert list when they did a routi...

A 41-year-old Costa Rican named Navarro Quesada pleaded guilty in the Pennsylvania Western District Court to the crimes of conducting mail fraud and money laundering. Navarro Quesada was arrested in February at the Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport in Madrid following an alert sent to the International Police (Interpol) by U.S. authorities. The Costa Rican man admitted to having used a website d...

Costa Rican migration police at the Juan Santamaría International Airport detained a Mexican man who is one of the suspects of the robberies that occurred last Tuesday, October 31st in two jewelry stores in Escazú. Migration ad interim director, Esteban Obando, confirmed that the alert was given by the new digital system (Migración Visible) on Saturday night and the airport authorities immedia...

The Drug Control Police found 250 kilograms of cocaine hidden in two containers that arrived at Moín port in Limón, this Saturday. The investigations carried out by agents of the Drug Control Police (PCD) alerted them of a ship with a Panamanian flag that apparently was transporting several containers with drugs; the police therefore checked all the containers and found the cocaine hidden in th...

This Saturday, November 5 the San José court sentenced Costa Rican businessman Juan Carlos Bolaños, president of SINOCEM and six executives of public bank Banco de Costa Rica who were all detained yesterday in relation to the “Cementazo” corruption case, to three months of preventive prision detention at the San Sebastián prison in San José which inmates describe as "hell on earth". The resolut...

A migration officer at the Juan Santamaría International Airport will be subjected to an investigation by her superiors after she allowed one of the suspects in the halloween robberies that took place last Tuesday, October 31, in Escazú, to exit the country. According to the General Direction of Migration and the digital system “Migración Visible” detected the alert in real time; however, for r...