Source: Wikimedia Commons More than 220 uniformed law enforcement officers have been deployed to the Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium in the city of Alajuela for tonight's match between local club Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA) and visitor Club Sport Herediano (CSH). This will be the first of two final matches to crown the Summer Tournament Champion of the First Division, Costa Rica's highest p...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) are investigating a shooting that left one man dead and another one injured in the outskirts of Heredia. The violent incident took place over the weekend, and the two young Asian victims are believed to have been intercepted and abducted before being shot. The decedent has been identified as ...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, May 17 (EFE, plus additional context by The Costa Rica Star).- At least nine people died and 18 others were injured in a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, police said. The shootout, which began as a fist- and knife-fight but quickly escalated to gunplay, took place in a parking lot between the Twin Peaks and Don Carlos rest...

Source: MSP A security task force convened by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP) in Costa Rica arrested a citizen from the United States who will be charged with crimes against nature. According to an official press release by the MSP, the U.S. expat was apprehended along with a citizen of Costa Rica; both men will face charges stemming from activities related to the illeg...

Source: Pixabay Commons A judicial inspector assigned to the Supreme Court of Costa Rica is currently under investigation for allegedly using a government vehicle to visit an underground brothel during working hours. The inspector was caught by field agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) just as they were getting ready to execute a raid on an establishment w...

Source: Flickr Commons A foreign businessman was shot and killed during a robbery attempt gone sour in Costa Rica. According to a news report filed by metro journalist Gabriela Moreira Leitón of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the incident took place Wednesday night in the Concepción neighborhood of Alajuelita, part of the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (Spanish initials: GAM). Reports from...

Mexican soldiers fighting the Drug War. Wikimedia Commons Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 13 (EFE).- Six people were killed when suspected drug traffickers shot down a small plane in Urique, a city in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, state officials said Wednesday. The victims were aboard an air taxi that was on its way from the northwestern state of Sinaloa to Chihuahua when it was shot...

Quito, May 12 (EFE).- Ecuadorian police seized 2.2 tons of cocaine that was intended for shipment to the United States in sacks of zeolite, a porous mineral used as an absorbent in the agricultural and petrochemical sectors, the Interior Ministry reported Tuesday. Deputy Interior Minister Diego Fuentes said in remarks broadcast by Ecuavisa television that five suspects were arrested in the oper...

Source: Wikimedia Commons (US DOJ Press Release) A six-count superseding indictment was unsealed last week in Brooklyn federal court charging husband and wife defendants Gregorio and Eleonora Gigliotti, their son Angelo Gigliotti, and a relative who is an Italian citizen, Franco Fazio, with conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, importation of co...

Source: MSP Anti-narcotics officers assigned to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in the province of Alajuela arrested a tourist found in possession of nearly two kilograms of powdered cocaine hydrochloride. According to a press release by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), the tourist was trying to board a flight to Spain; he was arrested for attempting to ...

Wikimedia Commons Geneva, May 10 (EFE).- Five people were killed in a shooting in the Swiss town of Würenlingen, police said Sunday, adding that the lone shooter was among the victims and that apparently a family dispute had sparked the rampage. Argovie police chief Michael Leutpold at a press conference confirmed the death toll, adding that the 36-year-old shooter, the father of three and ...

Source: Flickr Commons Mexico City, May 8 (EFE).- The charred, decapitated remains of three people were discovered inside a vehicle in a highland area of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. Police, who were informed of the killings shortly before 7:00 a.m. Thursday, found a narcobanner left at the crime scene - along the road linking the towns of Chilapa de Alvarez and Ahuacotzingo - bu...

Pixabay Commons Washington, May 8 (EFE).- The United States asked China on Friday to investigate the alleged cyber attacks on companies and other interests in the U.S. using a new tool called "The Great Cannon." "We are concerned by reports that China has used a new cyber capability to interfere with the ability of worldwide Internet users to access content hosted outside of China," U.S. St...

Source: Pixabay Commons Three individuals were arrested earlier this week for their alleged participation in a ring dedicated to the sexual exploitation of young women in Costa Rica. According to a press release published by the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ), a series of raids on underground brothels in the municipalities of Alajuela and Heredia resulted in the resc...

Source: Flickr Commons Chilpancingo, Mexico, May 2 (EFE).- Armed assailants shot and killed a mayoral candidate of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. Ulises Fabian Quiroz, a candidate for mayor of the municipality of Chilapa de Alvarez - located 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the state capital of Chilpancingo - in Mexico's June 7 ...

Tourism Police Assisting Backpackers. Source: Fuerza Publica Physical fitness training paid off for an officer from the downtown precinct of the Tourism Police in San Jose as he made an arrest yesterday. According to a press release published by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), an unnamed Tourism Police officer patrolling the Central Park perimeter on foot sprung to act...

Source> Facebook Timeline of Milena Solano Chiri Memorial A woman who left her native Costa Rica for the United States in search of what many people call “the American Dream” will be memorialized this weekend in Florida. Milena Solano Chiri was 38 years old when she was slain in Daytona Beach, a coastal community of Florida. Prosecutors have charged Ms. Solano's ex-husband Johan Chiri with ...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Apr 29 (EFE).- Two new videos aired on Mexican television show Rodrigo Vallejo, the son of a former governor of the western state of Michoacan, socializing with Caballeros Templarios drug cartel boss Servando Gomez Martinez. Vallejo, who faces trial for being an accessory to a crime after the fact, is shown having drinks with Gomez Martinez, who has been arres...

A group of malcontents allegedly conspired to commit a terrorist act that would have taken down two bridges in the Caribbean province of Limon in Costa Rica. Such was the statement made on a news report published by daily tabloid Diario Extra in late April 2015. According to Diario Extra, two employees from Lemon Stone, one of the companies subcontracted by APM Terminals to help develop a massi...

A young surfer who was enjoying long, glassy rights at Playa Guacalillo, located in Tarcoles and not far from one of the busiest tourist hotspots of Costa Rica, was surprised to find the lifeless body of a corpulent man adrift in the surf. According to a news report by journalist Greivin Rodriguez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the surfer was waiting for a set when he sighted something strange flo...

Source: Flickr Commons In the capital city of Costa Rica, commuters heading to work or school in the early morning hours of Tuesday were left aghast when they witnessed a man jump from the fourth floor balcony of his hotel room. According to a report filed by metro reporter Krissia Morris Gray of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the incident occurred at the Hotel Costa Rica Morazan, not far from an...

Nigerian soldiers during a mission briefing. Wikimedia Commons Lagos, Apr 28 (EFE).- The schoolgirls from Chibok are not among the 200 minors freed on Tuesday in the forests of Sambisa, considered to be the bastion of the jihadist Boko Haram group, Nigerian army spokesman Col. Sani Usman reported. The Nigerian armed forces came to that conclusion after completing the first phase in identify...

Bogota, Apr 28 (EFE).- Colombia's deputy health minister said Tuesday that he expects the government to adopt the ministry's recommendation to suspend the aerial spraying program for glyphosate, a powerful herbicide used to eliminate illicit crops. The decision will not affect the commercial use of glyphosate, sold in the United States under the brand name Roundup, since those users may decide ...

RADNOR, Pa., April 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP announces that a shareholder class action has been filed against ForceField Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FNRG) ("ForceField" or the "Company") on behalf of purchasers of the Company's common stock between September 16, 2013 and April 15, 2015, inclusive (the "Class Period"). For additional information ab...

Screenshot of cached US Marshals webpage A teenager from the United States, who was allegedly held in Costa Rica for many years before returning home, wishes to see her jailed kidnappers. Mary Nunes is 19 years old; she recently returned to the U.S. along with her 50-year old stepfather Scott Kelley. In 2004, Miss Nunes was reported as having being kidnapped by her mother and Mr. Kelley and...

Francisco Morazan Park in San Jose. Source: Wikimedia Commons A male tourist from the United States who had checked into a hotel in the capital city of Costa Rica lost his life in the late hours of Friday. Such was the information contained in a preliminary report filed by metro reporter Daniel Chinchilla Salazar of daily tabloid Diario Extra; however, few details have been provided about the ...

Jairo Mora loved to teach children about nature. Wikimedia Commons April 23, 2015 – FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. – Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Sea Shepherd) announces sea turtle defense campaign Operation Jairo, to take place this summer in three regions critical to nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings – southeastern Florida, Honduras and Costa Rica. Last season, Sea Shepherd was involved i...

Source: Fuerza Publica Officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, detained 17 undocumented immigrants who were trying to cross the border into Nicaragua. The incident occurred in the canton of La Cruz, province of Guanacaste, specifically in the midst of the teak forest near the Peñas Blancas border crossing point, which is often used by perpetual tourists on visa r...

Source: Wikimedia Commons (US Justice Dept. Press Release) – Richard St. Julien, the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of ForceField Energy Inc. (ForceField), a publicly traded company whose common stock was listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FNRG, was arrested late Friday evening on charges of securities fraud conspiracy. The arrest occurred as St. Julien was preparing to...

By Jorge Mederos Chicago, Apr 21 (EFE).- Private prisons that have contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress to keep a steady population of 34,000 migrants detained at all times, a study by the Austin, Texas-based Grassroots Leadership group found. Grassroots Leadership researched detention conditions across the country and c...

Preferred weapon of guerrilla fighters. A 29-year old buxom beauty recently left a private hospital in San Jose, where she is alleged to have undergone reconstructive facial surgery after a hitman failed to carry out his lethal contract. Over the last few weeks, Pamela Crespi Guzman has been making headlines in Costa Rica due to her alluring looks and her alleged ties to a dangerous criminal o...

Screenshot of cached US Marshals webpage Concord, NH - April 15 (U.S Marshals Press Release) – Scott Kelley, 50, a former Whitefield, New Hampshire, resident wanted by law enforcement since November 2004 for non-custodial kidnapping and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, was arrested upon his return to the United States by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force at an Atlanta-area airport. Mi...

A massive Corinthians club flag,. Wikimedia Commons Sao Paulo, Apr 19 (EFE).- Armed men gunned down eight members of a radical fan group for Corinthians, one of Brazil's most popular soccer teams, although police on Sunday ruled out linking the massacre to a fight among rival teams' supporters. The killings occurred after 11 p.m. on Saturday in front of the Pavilhão Nove group's headquarter...

OIJ agents on a 2012 raid. San Jose, Apr 19 (EFE).- A Mexican businessman kidnapped on April 11 was rescued and three suspects were arrested by police, Costa Rica's OIJ law enforcement agency said. "The rescue was carried out last Friday in Alajuela province outside a dwelling, where they were apparently keeping the victim, and at the moment when a man guarding him brought him out to move h...

Source: Wikimedia Commons WASHINGTON (DOJ) —Brian Karl Brimager, 37, prior boyfriend of murdered Los Angeles woman Yvonne Baldelli, was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego, California, today on first degree murder charges. Brimager was arraigned in court on the superseding indictment and pleaded not guilty. Brimager has been in U.S. custody since June 2013 on charges of obstructio...

Source: Rocio Carranza Facebook A Costa Rican actress who is known for her dedication to social activism is accusing a Canadian man of lewd behavior and obscenity after an unpleasant encounter in San Jose. According to a news report filed by Angie Guerrero of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, the incident occurred on Thursday afternoon in Curridabat, a municipality in the eastern suburbs of th...

Source: Flickr Commons San Jose, Apr 17 (EFE).- A former U.S. soldier named Robert Lemon was found dead on the private Ojo de Agua Ranch in Puriscal County, San Jose province. He had been shot several times and half of his body was charred, a police spokesperson told Efe Friday. The body was found Thursday next to the stables, together with two dead dogs, by a woman who works on the ranch a...

Photo by Eladio Ramirez, U.S. Embassy) Story by Sgt. 1st Class Anna Doo SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Three highly-skilled noncommissioned officers of the New Mexico Army National Guard shared decades of experience and knowledge in combatives and weapons retention tactics with more than 30 Costa Rican first responders. Police officers, tourist law enforcement officials, narcotics officers and memb...

CIMA Hospital in San Jose is often visited by medical tourists A citizen from the United States, who is suspected of having pulled off a spectacular real estate flimflam in Costa Rica, was arrested by the National Police of Nicaragua during Holy Week after a daring escape from a private hospital where he was in custody. According to a news report filed by Fatima Torres Gonzalez of El Nuevo ...

In light of the recent eruptions and increased activity at the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago, the British Embassy in Costa Rica has updated its advice to travelers. The Costa Rica Star has been closely following the announcements by our country's geologists and emergency officials with regard to this active colossus, which has been compared to a “pressure cooker.” The following u...