The U.S. Embassy shared the following alert for U.S. citizens living in or visiting Costa Rica in relation to the labor strike and related protests that are now going on 9 days: "Local and social media report that last week’s demonstrations against the host government’s fiscal plan likely will continue this week throughout Costa Rica, and particularly in San Jose. Protesters may express their o...

Costa Rican Public Police Forces have started to take action which guarantee public order and the security of the inhabitants as promised during a press conference Monday morning. The Police intervened to eliminate a road block near the access to the Moin port to facilitate the access and exit of containers. The operation left two people detained and three officers suffered injuries as a r...

The Costa Rica Fire Department had to handle this Sunday night the spillage of close to 3,000 gallons of fuel from an oil pipeline. The spillage was reported at 9:10 p.m. close to the Dos Pinos factory in El Coyol, Alajuela, to handle the emergency, transit police had to close Route 1 which connects San Jose and Alajuela. There are no reports of people affected by the spillage; to avoid environ...

Photo Credit: FB Pegando Porte Costa Rican Public Police Officers handled an alert received by the 911 service regarding an apparent case of domestic violence that took place in Quesada Duran, Zapote, San Jose the afternoon of this Sunday, when they arrived the suspect attacked them. According to preliminary information the man, a U.S. citizen of last name Caspari, was out of control, attack...

During a press conference held on Saturday afternoon, the Minister of Security, Michael Soto, expressed his concern over damages caused by an “antisocial group” to the state refinery’s (Recope) oil pipeline between Limon and the Central Valley. Yesterday, the Public Police Force had to take control of the accesses to Recope in La Garita, Alajuela and Barranca, Puntarenas, to guarantee the suppl...

The Ministry of Public Security through the Drug Control Police have been conducting investigations with the purpose of protecting the exports systems of the country that are being used for organized crime to send drugs from Costa Rica to European countries such as Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and England among others as well as the United States. Searches were conducted at two companie...

The Interpol in Costa Rica with aid of the Judiciary Investigative Police arrested the afternoon of this Wednesday a dangerous drug dealer that was required by the United States justice. Authorities had been keeping track of the suspect closely for the past two months, they were able to determine that the suspect was making arrangements to settle in the country, apparently building a luxurious...

The Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, affirmed during a press conference today that Costa Rica has registered a decrease in the number of homicides, robberies and burglaries over the last four months. According to Soto, the homicide rates from May to August 2018 in comparison to the same period of 2017 went from 213 cases to 193, showing an evident decrease starting in the month of Jun...

The Protection and Control authorities of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) in a joint operation with the Border Police, Public Security and Coast Guard Service in the Corcovado National Park and the Manuel Antonio National Park, detained 10 men this week in relation to environmental crimes. According to Enrique Obando from MINAE, three men were detained in the sector of Playa Rey...

Agents of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) conducted 18 raids the morning Tuesday, September 4, and arrested 19 people suspected of being part of an organization that sold drugs in Batán, Limon. Many of the suspects are part of a same family and according to the investigations sold drugs in the communities nearby; some of them are also apparently related to homicides in the area. In ...

Costa Rican authorities carried out 40 searches this Tuesday morning in different areas of the country in relation to an international human smuggling case, an investigation that was carried out for over 2 years and involved the different entities of the Ministry of Security, the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), the General Directorate of Migration and the Public Ministry as well as Panamania...

Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) in Costa Rica, arrested a man of last names Pereira Lopez suspected of the alleged rape of an Argentinian tourist. OIJ received the report last Saturday, the victim is a 41-year-old woman that is vacationing at Samara Beach in Guanacaste; no further details were revealed by the authorities. The suspect is currently serving three months of preventive custo...

Like it or not, Costa Rica is experiencing a mini crime wave, and it will surely affect the tourist trade, including hotels, restaurants, tours, taxis, B & B’s, etc. Even Bloomberg Business News took note of the crime uptick, publishing an article this week on the upward trending Costa Rican crime statistics. This is worrisome to both Ticos and expats, and here’s why. Tourism is Costa Rica’s m...

The group responsible for a shipment of 133 kilos of cocaine hidden in Costa Rican pineapples have been identified as the Kinahan Cartel. The cocaine was discovered in pineapples specially outfitted with waxy, yellow tubes in which the cocaine was hidden. The cocaine was discovered on August 14, aboard a Spanish boat registered as carrying bananas, on its way to Cork, Ireland. The boat was interce...

The Ministry of Public Security through the National Coast Guard Service and the Drug Control Police seized 407 kilograms of cocaine and detained three suspects 90 nautical miles of Flamingo, Guanacaste. The United States Coast Guard service raised the alert of the presence of the suspicious ship, the national Coast Guard Service immediately mobilized aboard the patrol ship 3818 and intercepted...

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized this past week 45 kilograms of cocaine at the Port of Wilmington, Delaware, hidden in a shipment of Costa Rican pineapple destined to Clifton, NJ, USA. “Part of CBP’s mission is to prevent illicit narcotics from entering the U.S. utilizing all the resources at our disposal – technology, K9s, CBP officers, and our law enforcement partners,” said Case...

The Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) confirmed today the arrest of a 24-year-old of Asian origin but nationalized Ecuadorian who is in Costa Rica as a tourist and is suspected of money-laundering. “The investigation began several weeks ago, when the authorities detected several foreigners entering the country through the Juan Santamaria Airport with large sums of cash; we were able to deter...

Spanish authorities seized 67 kilograms of cocaine that were hidden in a pineapple cargo that originated from Costa Rica. It was this past Sunday that Spain’s National Police informed of the discovery which was made in a market in the city of Madrid, as part of the operation the police arrested suspects in Madrid and Barcelona. Apparently, the pineapples were hollow and stuffed with cylinder...

Drug Control Police Officers of the Ministry of Public Security in Costa Rica detained a US citizen who is suspected of drug trafficking using courier services. The arrest took place at the Juan Santamaria International Airport when the 41-year-old man of last name Sharp intended to leave the country with destination to Denver, U.S.A. According to information provided by the Ministry of Publ...

In 24 raids that took place this Monday, the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) in Costa Rica arrested that same number of people as suspects of forging documents in the country. The raids took place in different areas of San José, Alajuela, Puntarenas and Cartago. The suspects arrested are 22 males, 1 female and 1 minor. According to Emilio Segura, Chief of the transit specialized unit of OI...

Here we go again. Another high-profile murder case – Mollie Tibbetts – comes to the forefront allegedly committed by an illegal alien farm worker from Mexico – who police say has confessed. Through exhaustive police work, Tibbett’s body was found in a central Iowa corn field only about 12-miles from where she disappeared. This 20-year-old vibrant University of Iowa student – loved by everyone w...

During the Second Annual Forensic Science Symposium carried out in Mexico, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division gave a special recognition to the progress being done by the forensics lab in Costa Rica to get accreditation and elevate the level of their work. “I give special recognition to Costa Rica, which has accredited the fo...

The Judiciary Investigative Agency (OIJ) raided a house in La Florida, Tibas and a hotel in Sabana Norte, San Jose, and arrested two foreigners and two Costa Ricans suspected of fraud. Apparently the criminal group, formed by a South African man of last name Jacobs and 48 years-old, a Honduran woman identified with surnames Morales Leiva, age 32; and a Costa Rican couple, the man of last name P...

Costa Rican authorities seized 1,101 kilograms of cocaine in Quebrada Ganado, Garabito, Puntarenas, in addition to the drugs, the police confiscated two vehicles and several firearms, including AK-47 assault rifles. Agents of the Investigative Police (OIJ) along with the Intelligence and Security Direction (DIS) and officials of the Special Intervention Unit, raided a beach home this Thursday a...

The Judiciary Investigative Agency (OIJ) confirmed the arrest this Wednesday morning of the suspect of robbing and raping a 19-year-old Canadian tourist back in July 22. The man, 36 years-of-age and of last names Ferrey Vilchez apparently offered the foreigner transportation service from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, Limon; however, at some point they stopped in Guapiles where they purchased some i...

US citizens Luda and Roma Gimelfarb have spent the last nine years living the nightmare of every parent; their son David Gimelfarb went missing in Costa Rica in 2009 and to this date nothing is known of what may have happened to him. The last day someone saw David Gimelfarb was August 11, 2009, when he set out for a hike to Rincón de La Vieja National Park in Guanacaste; he never came back. Al...

The Costa Rican Drug Control Police (PCD) in coordination with National Direction of Intelligence and Security (DIS), as well as the US agencies FBI and DEA and the German agency BKA , carried out eight raids the morning of this Wednesday in relation to a drug trafficking operation. As explained by the Minister of Security, Michael Soto, during a press conference carried out at 9 a.m. today, t...

The National Tourist Safety Commission (CONSETUR) suggests the creation of a safety committee in each tourism chamber in the country, this with the purpose of building a safer destination for domestic and international travelers and in order to carry out preventative measures in the areas of the country they represent. The project will be led by the National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR), which ...

The San Jose Trial Court sentenced Costa Rican attorney Carlos Roberto Loría Quirós to 8 years of prison and ordered he returns a total of $41 million USD that corresponded to the inheritance of German citizen Wolff Ulrich Schneider who had investments in the country. This case dates back to 2004 when Schneider passed-away of natural causes while he was in Belgium; his investments in Costa Rica...

The trial of the three men suspected of the murder of Dutch citizens Johannes Snelders (a.k.a Hans Snelders), his wife Kawitadevi Dhawtal (a.k.a Sita Dhawtal) and their worker, Nicaraguan Richard Abenor Montalbán, which took place December 27, 2015 in Sardinal, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, begins today. The suspects of last names Zúñiga Rivera, Calderón Manzanares and Angulo Méndez are facing charge...

Costa Rica’s Minister of Public Security, Michael Soto, confirmed the detention of a total 44 people, 38 Costa Ricans and 6 Nicaraguans, many of them with criminal records, during the protests in San Jose, this Saturday, August 18. A group of Costa Ricans organized the event to protest against the presence of Nicaraguans in La Merced Park and other areas of San Jose, the protest was organized ...

The Costa Rican Coast Guard Service with the assistance of Air Surveillance intercepted a boat in the area of Playa Tamales, Golfito, carrying a total of 718 packets of cocaine one kilogram each. The boat of named Tiburón originated from Ecuador, two natives of this country of last names Avilés and González were arrested. A total of 5 jerrycans with fuel were also found aboard the boat. I...

Agents of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ) and the District Attorney carried out several raids the morning of this Friday in properties related to former president of state bank Banco de Costa Rica (BCR), Paola Mora in connection to the “Cementazo” corruption case. Read: Understanding the “Cementazo” the Latest Corruption Scandal Under Investigation in Costa Rica According to informatio...

InSight Crime, a foundation dedicated to the study of organized crime in Latin America, analyzed the growing violence in Costa Rica, in the article What Is Behind Growing Violence in Costa Rica? Costa Rica closed 2017 with a record number of 603 homicides which brings the murder rates to 12.1 per every 100 thousand inhabitants, one of the region’s lowest homicide rates, but still the highest re...

President Carlos Alvarado, the Minister of Justice, Marcia González and the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications, Luis Adrián Salazar, signed Law 9597, a change to Article 49 of the General Law of Telecommunications (Law 8642) that will block the cell phone signal in penitentiary centers in the country. This action hopes to help in matters of security by effectively battling f...

The Drug Control Police (PCD) of the Ministry of Public Security, seized a total of 133 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a pineapple cargo. The authorities got an anonymous call to their confidential line (1176) in reference to possible drug transportation case, the agents arrived at the Moin Port in Limon to confirm the report. The drugs were found in a container which was supposedly carrying...

A Nicaraguan man of last names Castillo Chavez was arrested today by Officers of the Operational Support Group (GAO) of the Ministry of Public Security in Costa Rica, as suspect raping a German tourist in Tortuguero, Pococí, Limón. “On Sunday, August 12, the tourist took a tour and after the same the man invited her to go out on a boat ride in the area of San Francisco, that’s when the act took...

Walter Espinoza, Director of the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ), offered a press conference this Monday morning with regards to the progress made in the case of the murder of a Spanish tourist last August 4th in Tortuguero, Pococí, Limón. On August 5th, OIJ arrested a man of Nicaraguan nationality who is in the country illegally as the main suspect in this murder; the man identified as A...

A couple formed by a Colombian native of last name Caicedo and a Costa Rican woman of last name Centeno were arrested this Saturday in La Uruca as suspects of theft affecting two Canadian tourists. This couple had been arrested back in February 8, 2018 in Heredia, as suspects of participating in at least 20 thefts that took place between June 2017 and February 2018 and where tourists were the m...

Members of the Border Police apprehended a U.S. citizen of last name Lewis who was carrying a fake DIMEX card (foreigner’s migratory identity card) in the area of Guaycará, Golfito (South Border). The DIMEX card is given to foreigners who are legally established in Costa Rica. According to the authorities, Lewis was carrying a DIMEX that had been awarded back in 2006 to the underage son of a sc...