By Wendy Anders

Yesterday morning the Minors Section of the Judicial Investigative Agency (OIJ) conducted two simultaneous raids in Escazú and Cartago, both in Costa Rica’s Central Valley, to gather evidence for an investigation on a 17-year-old male teen who is suspected of production, possession and distribution of child pornography, reported the Public Security Ministry.

Police began investigating the suspect after the United States Embassy alerted Costa Rican judicial authorities of an IP address registered in Costa Rica that had uploaded more than 500 files containing child pornography. The embassy also noted that the email address from which the material was originating was also found to be in use in Germany.

As it turns out, the OIJ discovered that the suspect traveled from Costa Rica to Germany in April for an educational exchange. Costa Rican police are currently coordinating with their German counterparts to solve the case, as it appears that the teen is continuing with his illegal activities via Internet from Germany, reported the Security Ministry.

While police seized evidence in the western-San José suburb of Escazú, and in Cartago, a small city northeast of San Jose, German police carried out similar actions in Germany. Electronic tablets, flash drives, computers, cell phones and routers were among the items seized.

Investigations into the case are continuing.