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Gang that Stole Cocaine from Government Warehouse Nabbed in Costa Rica

Eight people, among them three policemen, have been arrested for allegedly belonging to a gang that in March stole 320 kilograms of cocaine from the warehouse belonging to the prosecutor’s office in Golfito, in southern Costa Rica, the press reported Sunday.

The suspects, all of whom are Costa Rican, were arrested, and police seized $306,000 in cash, 18,500 euros and 2.6 million colones (about $4,500), OIJ investigations agency director Jorge Rojas said.

The arrests were made on Saturday in Ciudad Neily, a city in the southern province of Puntarenas, near the border with Panama, and in the town of Golfito, where the drug shipment was stolen during the early morning hours of March 26.

The authorities also seized four vehicles.

Among the people captured were three police officers, as well as a former policeman and a security guard for the judicial institution where the cocaine was being stored.

Two other suspects are fugitives.

“These gentlemen are not policemen, they are infiltrated criminals,” Deputy Security Minister Oldemar Madrigal told the La Nacion newspaper, adding that improvements were needed in the recruitment procedures for officers to avoid this type of situation.

Investigators determined that the suspects sold part of the drug shipment and the $306,000 that was seized came from a payment received for that portion of the cocaine.

The 320 kilos of coke were seized by the authorities in March on board a boat that ran aground on Sirena beach, in the Corcovado National Park, in an operation in which two Ecuadorians were arrested.

Some days later, for the first time in the country’s history, an armed group attacked judicial offices to steal the drug.