After midnight Saturday, a “Breaking Chains” police operation took place in Tamarindo, Guanacaste, a popular surf town on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.

The plan – called ROCA in Spanish – is a targeted attempt to rescue victims of human trafficking and is led by Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ).

ROCA is an inter-institutional effort which also involves Interpol police, and a host of local agencies including Costa Rican police, the Costa Rican intelligence agency (DIS), immigration, tax control officials, traffic police, the Child Welfare Agency (PANI), the National Coalition Against the Illegal Traffic of Migrants and People (CONATT), and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The initiative is part of a larger regional plan to address human trafficking in which the countries in Central America, the Caribbean as well as in Mexico and Colombia have national specialized technical groups working on the issue with their local police, and give priority to children and adolescent victims.

 

Tamarindo was selected for the operation because, “It is a coastal and tourist area, where there is the influx of many foreigners, [and] there is presumably criminal activity related to sexual exploitation, drug addiction and crimes with an impact on public security,” said the OIJ.

During the operation three restaurants, two bars and a nightclub were visited. During the exhaustive searches, nine women who appeared to be victims on human trafficking were identified. Their nationalities were Dominican, Panamanian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, Colombian and Costa Rican, said police.

In one of the bars, a minor of 17 years of age was found, and drug seizures were made by the police, together with two tickets for dangerous driving by traffic police, and officials questioned more than 150 people to gather information and ensure a safe environment.

This is the first time such a broad range of officials have cooperated on a police intervention.

ROCA’s ultimate aim is, “To combat the organized criminal activity of trafficking in persons and migrants, and related crimes; to rescue and provide immediate care and protection to victims; and to conduct investigations against organized criminal structures through joint actions based on inter-institutional and international coordination and intelligence,” said the OIJ.