196 Pre-Columbian pieces mainly made of stone and others in ceramic which were part of Costa Rica’s archeaological treasure and that had been taken out of the country to Venezuela illegally will arrive back to the country on January 2, according to a press release by the Costa Rica National Museum. The items were pieces sculpt by native Costa Rican indigenous, and have, therefore, historic impo...

Costa Rican police had two new cases of cocaine in the Pacific Coast, completing for this year more than 30 tons of this drug seized. The first case was reported by the Colombia National Police, which informed of a vessel possibly carrying illegal substances. The vessel by name CAP PATTON of Colombian Shipping & Marine Supplier Eduardo L. Gerlein S.A., navigating under Liberian Flag and wit...

James Wallace Kirgin also known as James David McDonald, one of the most wanted man by Costa Rican justice was detained this Thursday, December 28 in Guatemala City. The Guatemala National Civil Police confirmed the arrest which took place in Zona 1 in the capital city. 56-year-old Kirgin was wanted by the Interpol at the request of Costa Rica authorities accused of “committing sexual and e...

The first flight of the South American airline Latam will arrive to Costa Rica on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 from Lima, Peru; this will be the first direct service offered by this company between Costa Rica and Peru. Latam will offer three weekly flights, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, leaving from the Juan Santamaria International Airport at 4:45 p.m. and arriving in Lima at 9:25 p.m. Flights ...

The route that connects San Jose (Sabana) to Caldera, Puntarenas, known as Route 27 will have another increase in its toll fees as of January 1st, 2018; the increase corresponds to an ordinary adjustment as established in the concession contract. The price will increase between ȼ10 and ȼ30 colones depending on the type of vehicle and some of the tolls will maintain the same price; in the case ...

Kelly Clarke was a former East Texas Youth Pastor who had moved with his family to Costa Rica earlier this year as missionaries, here he was close friends to the family of Costa Rican Pastor Manuel Garcia, and together their families were spending time together at the beach (apparently Playa Hermosa, Garabito, Puntarenas). According to the information published by Fox51 News, Clarke and his fam...

This Thursday the Costa Rica Drug Control Police detained another vessel carrying 706 Kg of cocaine in 15 packets, the boat was intercepted in waters of the South Pacific with 4 Colombian men on board. With this, the Ministry of Public Security reported that with just 3 days left in this 2017 they have already seized 29.8 tons of cocaine, in addition to 232,003 doses of crack, 238.18 Kg of mari...

As 2017 comes to an end Costa Rica will close with an alarming rate of 600+ homicides, at least 22 more than the total registered in 2016. 48% of the homicides that have been taking place obey to organized crime, confrontations between gangs to settle scores and win over specific territories. In 2012 the year finished with 407 homicides, in 2013 there were 411; 477 in 2014 and a year later 5...

Route 27 that connects La Sabana, San Jose with Caldera in Puntarenas (77 Km total) was inaugurated in 2010 with a cost of $336 million between the initial cost ($301 million) and additional work approved ($35 million). This road which has presented several problems in the past, specially landslides, is presenting another problem in kilometer 44 in the stretch between Atenas and Orotina and par...

Qatar donated US$1million to Costa Rica to be used for the attention and rebuilding process of the áreas affected by tropical storm Nate and Otto hurricane. Through a press release the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that the funds will be deposited in an account of the National Emergency Committee (CNE). “Receiving this generous help from friendly countries is very meaningful. A countr...

Playa Hermosa in Garabito, Puntarenas, very close to Jacó, is one of the most visited beaches of this province, its beauty, great waves ideal for surfing and the fact that is just a short drive from San Jose contribute to the high visitation rates; however, this is also one of the most dangerous beaches in Costa Rica. On Christmas day the Garabito Red Cross informed of the drowning of a 44-yea...

So far this year 446 people have lost their life as a result of road crashes in Costa Rica, this number was of 445 for the same period of 2016 and the year closed with 456 victims. Out of these deaths, 197 (44.2%) were motorcyclists, according to data by the Operations Department of the Transit Police. Data provided by the National Institute of Statistics confirms that road accidents are ...

A group of students of the University of Costa Rica created a deodorant that slows down the growth of underarm hair. The product, which they named Nuvelo, has a natural component which helps in the long term weaken the hair follicle. The deodorant comes in roll-on presentation and it also moisturizes the skin leaving it soft, it was created by Pharmacy students, Maria Fernanda Chacon, Gabriela...

The Costa Rica Drug Control Police seized a package with 1,045 grams of crystal methamphetamine, out of which an approximate 26,125 doses of ecstasy can be produced. The illegal substance was found in a package sent by DHL under aerial guide number CY68.357.899 7 and the information listed as sender was: Metre Outdoor Sport, Kettengtz. 20b, Germany, 63486, Bzu Khobez. The package was addresse...

Schools in Costa Rica take their usual break in December, kids go on vacation depending on the school sometimes just for a month and other times for a little over two months; kids and teens can get bored at home or parents may want to keep them busy, in this case, there are plenty of options for summer classes, of course you can find paid options but there’re also alternatives that are completely ...

The construction sector in Costa Rica had registered through October 2017 a fall of 19.92% in relation to the same period of 2016 according to data provided by the Costa Rica Central Bank, institution that has been recording and publishing these data since 2000. This is the highest contraction registered in the past 17 years in a sector that generates over 136 thousand jobs, equivalent to 6.6% ...

Monday, December 25 in the waters of the Pacific 70 nautical miles from the entrance to the Gulf the Costa Rica Drug Control Police and the National Coast Guard Service found a cocaine cargo attached to a GPS buoy with the assistance from a US P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft. The drug cargo was taken to the Golfito Port, a total of 22 packets of 50 kilograms each and a smaller one, making a ...

A tragic accident occurred this Christmas day at around 1:15 p.m. in Route 27 (San Jose-Caldera) in the area of Turrucares; it was a head-on collision between a Land Rover Discovery and a motorcycle. Apparently the driver of the Discovery was making a U turn and the motorcycle was traveling at high speed, they encountered each other head to head and the impact was such that the Discovery overtu...

As we begin the last week of 2017, traditional activities take place in Costa Rica for the entertainment of Tico families. Zapote: The popular Zapote festivities begin today and will extend through January 7th . The fair includes mechanical games for young children and adults, food stands, bars, and the center of all action of course, the Zapote redondel or bullring. There’s no bullfighting...

Businessman Juan Carlos Bolaños, the main character in the “cementazo” case (china cement corruption scandal) left prison this Sunday morning where he is serving three months of preventive imprisonment to get knee surgery in a private clinic, confirmed the Costa Rica Ministry of Justice. Bolaños left prison at around 8 a.m. and was transferred to the Unibe Clinic in Tibas for a procedure that w...

We all know that tamales in Costa Rica are a huge tradition, especially during Christmas time, usually tamales are made with pork or chicken, and additional ingredients of course, but there’s a new type of tamal, a unique type: chocolate tamales. These tamales are elaborated by Costa Rica’s Sibu Chocolate company , which early this year actually took the silver medal at the International Chocol...

The Costa Rica Coast Guard Service prevented a tragedy this Saturday in Manuel Antonio, Quepos, when eight tourists were dragged by the strong current. The emergency took at close to 4:30 p.m. this Saturay, December 23 when several tourists, 5 from the United States ages 10,13, 23, 24 and 47 years old, a Turk 39 years of age and two Costa Rican of ages 22 and 25 were dragged into the deep ocean...

Morpho Travel, a company o Britt Group opened three new stores at the Juan Santamaria International Airport offering toys, technological items and coffee machines. On December 22 the company opened doors to their toy store Whoops; tech store Plug In, which offers technology “to go” (chargers, headphones, cameras, etc.)and the Britt Espresso store which specializes in coffee machines. Accordi...

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE for its Spanish acronym) was recently designated as the best investment promotion agency in the world by the International Trade Centre (ITC). This is an organization created by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. CINDE’s case is used now as reference by ITC to create a comparative evaluation tool, specialized for other promoti...

It’s already December 23 and many begin their vacation period today, many businesses in Costa Rica also remain closed this last week of the year. Banks usually have special schedules during the holiday season, it is important that you take this into consideration if you have to make payments, deposits or any other diligence in a Costa Rican bank. The Costa Rican Banking Association released the...

Lifeguards will be looking out for tourists in the different beaches of Parrita, Puntarenas. A group of locals and a few US expats working as volunteers have been certified by the Coast Guard Academy and are hoping to get sponsorship from local businesses and authorities to be able to work full time as lifeguards. One of the promoters of this initiative is community leader Rosemary Chamber...

Coordinated operations by the Costa Rica Coast Guard Service, the Aerial Surveillance Service and the Drug Control Police resulted in another hit to drug traffickers in waters of the South Pacific. A Costa Rican fishing boat was stopped carrying an important load of cocaine, an amount not yet quantified but estimated in close to one ton; the packets were hidden under a lot of ice in the storag...

Spanish police report that they have broken up one of the biggest drug trafficking operations in Europe, one that has been operating in Europe for forty or more years. How were they caught? Authorities tagged a suspicious shipment of Costa Rican pineapples, and discovered fruit loaded with cylinders coated with yellow-colored wax, made to look like pineapples. Eleven people were arrested in Malaga...

The story goes back to December 10, 2010, when Canadian citizen Belkis Depaulo (also known as Belkis Gonzalez Garcia) was stopped at the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica as she was supposedly traveling to Brussels, Belgium; apparently the woman appeared nervous while going through airport security controls and when officers searched her luggage they found susp...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica voted against the United States’ decision of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. During the United Nations General Assembly which had the presence of 193 member countries, 128 voted in favor of the resolution which condemns the decision of the United States; 9 nations voted against the resolution and 35 abstained. Although the resolut...

During the last two weeks authorities from the Conservation Area Arenal-Tempisque (ACAT) part of the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC-MINAE) has seize a large amount of illegal wood and machinery and equipment used for logging. The operations to control the illegal logging will continue in the sector of Abangares, during the end and beginning of the year. All cases reported hav...

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security announced they have invested in the purchase of four new vessels to help battle organized crime in Costa Rican waters. “With satisfaction we announce that the ships GC110-1 Libertador Juan Rafael Mora Porras and GC110-2 General Jose Maria Cañas Escamilla (both donated by the United States to the Costa Rica coast guard service) are already painted and ...

Guanacaste Wildlife Protected Areas During the holidays the number of visitors to the Guanacaste Wildlife Protected Areas increases and therefore the Guancaste Conservation Area (ACG) establishes a special attention schedule for tourists to be able to experience the different areas. The following schedules will be in place through Sunday, January 7, 2018: Santa Rosa Sector: The Santa Ro...

Photo Credit: NC11 Costa Rica A man, native from Wisconsin, USA, was detained by the Costa Rican police on Wednesday afternoon, accused of sexually abusing his step-daughter who has a mental disability. The foreigner was reported by his wife who is Costa Rican, apparently, the woman witnessed the moment in which the man committed the abuse, she immediately reported him and when the police d...

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security confirmed that officers from Fuerza Pública conducted a raid in the district of Pavas, San Jose the afternoon of this Wednesay, December 20 with the objective of getting rid of drugs, illegal firearms and other items that represent a risk to the inhabitants and with the purpose of battling organized crime in this area. A total of 250 police officers with t...

A group of tourists and their guide, Costa Rican Angelo Benlis from Tortuga Lodge, had the amazing chance to see a manatee in the waters of the Tortugero National Park in the Costa Rican Northeastern Caribbean. Costa Rica is home to the West Indian Manatees, and the largest population of them is found in Tortuguero, they are rarely seen though, this is an endangered species, and the population...

The Costa Rican Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Health and PriceSmart Costa Rica, announced today through the local press and resolution RV-03-2017 that Gwaltney Harwood Smocked Slice Bacon of 1lb, lot number 7236, item 209235 and expiration date of December 22 was taken out of the shelves due to possible contamination. Apparently there is risk that the lot was con...

Renown US magazine The Atlantic published an article including 40 photographs of volcanoes around the world that had activity during this 2017. The article titled “2017 The Year In Volcanic Activity” includes impressive photos of erupting volcanoes around the world, including the Shiveluch Volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula; Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Indonesia; in America three volc...

Costa Rica made the top 20 in the first edition of the Index of Environmental and Social Development - Laudato Si. Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” was used to create a tool to measure and rank countries’ efforts in human and environmental development. The investigation analyzed 127 countries, it was carried out by the Universidad Catolica in alliance with Viva Trus, Incae Business Scho...

The Legislative Commission that investigated the bank credits awarded to Juan Carlos Bolaños and his company SINOCEM in the cement corruption scandal in Costa Rica (cementazo) finally presented their report yesterday, recommending sanctions for 29 people, some belonging to the different government branches and others from two public banks. (Read here all about the Cementazo case) The first p...