Organized crime in Costa Rica and throughout Latin America has discovered a way to take advantage of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, while keeping their profits high and their traffickers gainfully employed. INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) has discovered substandard facemasks, counterfeit hand sanitizers, and most recently, bogus COVID-19 injections that traffickers refer to as “liquid gold”. So far. INTERPOL has made 121 arrests and seized more than USD 14 million dollars in potentially dangerous fake COVID vaccines.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Costa Rica (185,100 confirmed cases so far) has offered criminals a golden opportunity for fast cash as they take advantage of the demand for personal protection and hygiene products – as well as the reluctance of people to seek medical care or vaccines for fear of being stigmatized by neighbors and friends. Now, as the first doses of the vaccine begin to arrive in Costa Rica, criminals are offering fake vaccines to those not wanting to wait their turn for the government sanctioned CAJA vaccine.

Serious safety and health issues arise when people purchase fake medicines. Counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines often contain dangerous ingredients which many times are not properly formulated. Rather than keeping you healthy, they may make you quite sick. Yet people are often so desperate for COVID vaccines that they fall for the hype, hoping to stay healthy enough to continue working and to not contaminate their families at home. They pay under the table for a shot the CAJA gives for free, in order to jump to the head of the line, not knowing in fact exactly what they are receiving in the injection. Interpol reports a marked increase in the sale of fake medical products related to the coronavirus pandemic, an increase reported throughout Central America, including Costa Rica.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has indentified three areas needing urgent attention to combat the counterfeit Covid-19 trade:
1. Enhancing the effectiveness of penalties and sanctions, 2. Improving the screening of small shipments of Illicit products, and 3. Eliminating criminal activities related to illicit trade that are carried out in free trade zones.
The Secretary of Interpol Jurgen Stock explained, “The pandemic has given rise to criminal activity we consider both deplorable and opportunistic. We have confirmed the promotion, sale and false vaccinations against coronavirus in most Central American countries.”

Costa Rica’s Minister of Health Daniel Salas urges all citizens to accept only vaccinations provided by the CAJA, at CAJA-sanctioned hospitals or vaccination sites (EBAIS).
United Nations epidemiologist Juan Jose Romero stated, “If a vaccine is for sale in the street, it can only be counterfeit, and should be avoided at all costs.”

Reminder: Costa Rica will be offering free COVID-19 vaccines to all legal residents of the country, be they from Costa Rica or from other countries. That of course includes Canadian and American residents. CAJA members will be notified when it is their turn for vaccination

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