Ton of cocaine seized off Costa Rica
By Dialogo November 30, 2012
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica – Authorities announced on Nov. 29 the seizure 1,068 kilos (2,354 pounds) of cocaine aboard a fishing boat off the country’s Pacific coast.
The seizure was possible after U.S. Coast Guard units intercepted a Costa Rican-flagged vessel on Nov. 28, about 500 kilometers (310.7 miles) from shore under an agreement between the U.S. and the Costa Rican governments, according to the Central American country’s Security Ministry.
Once aboard the boat, U.S. Coast Guard personnel found the cocaine and took the four crew members, all of them Costa Rican citizens, into custody.
The Coast Guard will turn over to Costa Rican authorities the drugs and the suspects, the Security Ministry said.
In another seizure, authorities at the Peñas Blancas border crossing found 138 kilos (304 pounds) of cocaine hidden inside a cargo truck with Honduran license plates that entered Costa Rica from Nicaragua.
The police detained the truck driver, a 33-year-old Honduran national.
At least 2.8 tons (6,172 pounds) of cocaine have been seized at the Peñas Blancas border crossing this year, more than 20% of the total amount of the drug confiscated nationwide, according to the Security Ministry.
[AFP (Costa Rica), 29/11/2012; La Información (Costa Rica), 29/11/2012; El Tiempo (Venezuela), 29/11/2012]
