Image: Archive/Illustration purposes only.

Thanks to international cooperation of US, Colombian, Panamanian, Peruvian and Costa Rican authorities, Costa Rican police bodies were able to seize 640 kilograms of cocaine at the end of July.

“We are very pleased, this is an important success, the result of the coordination of national authorities with international police”, commented Eduardo Trejos, director of the Intelligence and Security Directorate (DIS).

US authorities located the load of cocaine on a vessel with Costa Rican flag “Cazamar III” intercepted in the surroundings of Malpelo Island, Colombia.

The Colombian Army was responsible of providing important information of this vessel that was near its coasts and where apparently it picked up the shipment of drugs.

The vessel was then transferred to Costa Rica where it arrived this Thursday.

An alert had been issued for this ship in the past by the Judicial Investigative Police of Corredores, South Zone of Costa Rica, and it was even subject to an inspection by United States authorities some months back.

Four men, of last names Carazo Carazo, Cedeño Carazo, Burgos Morales and Chavarría Solano, were arrested in relation to this case.
This Friday, August 2, Costa Rican authorities also located an abandoned light airplane carrying several packages of cocaine in Bagaces, Guanacaste. This case is still under investigation and no details have been given in reference to the exact quantity of drugs found or the condition of the plane.

In the first seven months of this year Costa Rican police has seized close to 14 tons of cocaine and 6.3 tons of marijuana.