Officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, rescued 81 iguanas that had been confined to a box at a hotel in San Jose. According to a press release issued earlier this week by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), the officers found the iguanas while responding to a report of larceny.

Per the MSP press release, officer Keilyn Bermudez and her partner arrived at a hotel located near the downtown district of the capital city to investigate a complaint related to the theft of a smartphone. While interviewing the hotel manager about the allegedly stolen electronic artifact, one of the officers noticed something strange; a box, which stirred and moved about in one of the inn’s corridors as if pushed by a poltergeist.

The officers questioned the innkeeper about the box, but she only offered silence from that point on. Carefully, Officer Bermudez opened the box and was startled by a flurry of juvenile green iguanas jumping out to freedom. As her partner scrambled to corral the iguanas on the loose, Officer Bermudez replaced the lid on the box and radioed her precinct to report the situation and to place an order of fresh lettuce and water.

The officers suspended the stolen smartphone investigation and proceeded to rescue the boxed reptiles, which were taken to a nearby precinct. Officer Bermudez explained:

We started taking the iguanas out of the box, and at the bottom we found two dead ones. They emanated a strong stench, and thus we believe they may have been dead for days. The survivors were fed lettuce and water, and they became very animated after their meal, those that were lethargic came back to life.

At this moment, officers are still investigating why and for how long the iguanas suffered a cardboard imprisonment at the hotel, which was not named. However, the establishment was reported to be located near 8^th Street and 6^th Avenue, which suggests a budget hotel. The Ministry of the Environment is working on the rehabilitation of the iguanas and their introduction to a natural habitat. It is presumed that the captive iguanas were the subject of an exotic pet smuggling scheme.