The future border crossing checkpoint at the Tablillas community of Los Chiles, in the northern region of the Alajuela province, will not be operational until April 2015. Nonetheless, this formality does not seem to stop illegal immigrants from taking advantage of the new bridge on the Nicaraguan side of the border to illegally cross into Costa Rica.

According to a recent news article reported by Pablo Rojas of online news daily CRHoy.com, the Santa Fe bridge is now part of the network of paths used by people who do not want to bother with customs or immigration as they cross into Costa Rica from Nicaragua. This bridge over the San Juan River is located about 8 kilometers away from the border, it spans 360 meters over water, and it is not monitored by Nicaraguan security forces, probably because there is no reason to.

In Costa Rica, however, a detachment from the National Border Police assigned to Los Chiles is on the alert. CRHoy.com quoted Steven Trejos, Assistant Director of the Border Police, who explained:

The bridge was officially inaugurated by Nicaragua, but we are still working on a border checkpoint. Since people can now cross the San Juan River, which is right next to the Rio Frio on our side, the path into Costa Rica is now easier. For this reason, we have increased our vigilance and security in the area. We have been working with the Directorate of Immigration in this regard.

As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star:

The new checkpoint hopes to ease the increasing cross-border traffic between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The current checkpoint of Peñas Blancas is often slow and crowded with vehicles carrying goods, immigrants, visitors, and expats on visa run who seek to extend their perpetual tourist status with a quick sojourn into Nicaragua before getting a fresh, three-month visa stamp on their passports.

The initial cost of this new border crossing checkpoint will be around $2.5 million, but future expenditure and financing will increase the price tag to $4 million. On the Nicaraguan side of the border, the checkpoint was once reported to be completed by state new agencies, but independent sources explain that there’s only a provisional immigration building and no customs facilities at all.