Last Thursday, Playa Hermosa in Guanacaste was once again the scene of a double murder, two Costa Rican men, identified as Brayan Duarte and Gary Strattman Mata were shot to death, the first outside a residential area and the other outside of a local bar “Bar Bahía Culebra” which was closed down months ago by the Municipality of Guanacaste.

According to the police both men apparently were members of a known gang from San José known as “Los Paveños” (the name indicates the band originated in Pavas); this gang is involved in the drug business and apparently some of its members have moved to touristic communities as of 2014 to grow their operation; it was precisely this “invasion of territory” which got them killed, the hypothesis that the Costa Rican police have is that they were killed due to the dispute and defense of the territory by another local gang.

Apparently, Duarte and Strattman were renting the bar where one of them was found with his hands tied and with a gunshot to his head, and using it as their place to live.
This seems to be a problem that continues to grow as young man related to drug gangs that originally formed in San José, are moving to areas visited by tourists as is the case of Playa Hermosa, Tamarindo, Flamingo and Playas del Coco in Guanacaste and areas of Puntarenas like Jacó, Quepos, and Dominical.

Back in November 2016, Fuerza Pública officers along with the Tourist Police in Tamarindo detained two men by the last names Pastenes and Quirós, the first one was apparently the leader of this same gang (Los Paveños), at that time the arrest took place because both men had threatened a local business owner with a gun. The police report stated the victim owned a surf shop and apparently, the two men were there to get back some money owed, Pastenes supposedly fired several shots into the air and then got in his car to leave when the Tourist Police that was in the area was able to capture them.

While in June this year, four members of Los Paveños were arrested in Filadelfia, Guanacaste after trying to rob two people in the area and Injuring one of them , their last names were: Izaguirre, Venegas, Strattman, and Jiménez.

The lack of infrastructure in certain areas of Guanacaste along with a large number of remote communities and beaches make this a very attractive market for the drug business, along with, of course, a large number of tourists that come to the beaches not just looking to enjoy vacation time but also searching for marihuana and cocaine.

Daniel Chinchilla, a journalist for the Costa Rican newspaper “Diario Extra” stated in an article published in March 2016 that in the case of Playas del Coco, recent investigations have shown that two organizations were disputing at one point this territory, but It was Los Pavones that eventually took over the business in this location. “It is important to mention that the county of Carrillo is the most problematic one, because it is a place with big social problems, a lot of drug consumption and a lot of available drugs”, said the Chief of the Regional Police office of Liberia, Guanacaste in the interview with Diario Extra.

The number of police officers in these areas of Guanacaste is insufficient to control the many problems that the complex drug business is causing.

In the Holy Week of 2016 the country learned of the mob killing of an Escazú college student, Alejo Leiva, who was vacationing in Playas del Coco, the police was able to make several arrests in this case, including the that of a 33-year-old man named Ortiz, also known as “The Beast”, and who apparently headed up a criminal group dedicated to distributing illegal drugs among Guanacaste’s coastal towns. The man was from La Uruca in San José, but was living in Liberia.

“Costa Rica’s strategic location, porous borders, limited security forces, and thinly-patrolled waters make it a major transit and temporary storage country for illicit drugs. A 20 percent rise in the homicide rate from 2014 to 2015 has focused the people and government on the increased presence of illegal drugs, greater domestic consumption, and associated turf wars. The government steadily increased its spending on law enforcement agencies and improved its focus on counter-narcotics programs, largely through strong security cooperation with the U.S. government. The recent accomplishments in Costa Rica’s counter-narcotics programs can partially be attributed to the improvements in equipment, training, and infrastructure projects provided by the U.S. government”, states the Costa Rica 2016 Crime & Safety Report by the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)

According to Michael Soto, Subdirector of the Office of Judicial Investigations (OIJ) stated earlier this year that the police estimates that this year the country will close with the highest number of homicides ever. The increase in the number of murders obeys in its majority to the war between drug groups and multiple murders.

Up until June 30, 2017, the number of homicides was of 278, eight more than in the same period of 2016. The OIJ estimates that the year could close with as many as 600 homicides, which translates into a rate of 12 for every 100,000 inhabitants. Any number over 10 is considered by the World’s Health Organization an epidemic.

“The problem of criminality in a country is not solved by just having more police officers or more judges. The problem is resolved with the government interaction in all directions, the recovery of public spaces, culture, and education”, said Soto.