A 33-year old man who powered his motorcycle through a law enforcement roadblock in municipality of Grecia was found in possession of counterfeit United States dollar bills totaling $4,600. Officers assigned to the Fuerza Publica (Costa Rica’s national police force) detachment in Grecia stopped the suspect after he attempted to evade a security checkpoint set up on a main road. The suspect tried to outmaneuver the officers, but he did not get very far.

 

The suspect’s last name is Vargas, and he has a long rap sheet that mostly consists of robberies and drug dealing in small amounts. Prior to his arrest this week, Vargas had no outstanding warrants or any other commitments to the criminal justice system. In addition to the 46 phony $100 bills, Fuerza Publica officers also found two hits of crack and a small marijuana cigarette; both were destroyed on the spot and Vargas was not charged with possession since the small amounts correspond to the “personal use” doctrine of the Law on Controlled Substances of Costa Rica. In this country, drug use is not considered a criminal offense; it is rather seen as a public health concern that is beyond the scope of the criminal justice system.

 

The suspect is from the artisanal town of Sarchi, located between Grecia and Naranjo in the province of Alajuela. Both Grecia and Sarchi have been quietly discovered by expats who choose to live just outside the Central Valley and at a respectable distance from the hustle and bustle of the lovable city of San Jose. Over the last two years, however, both Grecia and Sarchi have been hit by a wave of criminality that is tarnishing the image of these two formerly bucolic communities. Small-time drug trafficking, counterfeit US dollars and colones, money laundering, and house burglaries are the most common crimes affecting this region.

 

In Costa Rica, the Transit Police and Fuerza Publica routinely conduct roadblocks. The security checkpoints set up by Fuerza Publica have come under legal scrutiny with regard to their constitutionality. The Constitutional Chamber (Sala Cuarta) has determined that Fuerza Publica needs strong operational reasons to conduct such roadblocks. To a certain extent, a driver could choose not to go through a Fuerza Publica roadblock by parking his or her vehicle, continuing on foot and ignoring the challenges by the officers. Such is not the case with the Transit Police checkpoints since drivers in Costa Rica must agree to be stopped at any time as a condition of obtaining a driver’s license.