Lebanese, Ziad Akl, has been in preventive imprisonment in Costa Rica for over one year and  was sentenced today to over 23 years of prison for six separate crimes.

Ziad, is the brother of Elias Akl the man who was assassinated back in May 2017 outside a private school in Guachipelin, Escazu alleged to be drug related.  A report in Diario Extra states that Elias was the head of the Lebanese Mafia in Costa Rica and that his death was related to 100 kilos of cocaine which went missing in a light plane crash back in October 2016.

Ziad was arrested shortly after his brother’s murder when he was trying to flee the country through the Juan Santamaria Airport, and was detained on separate charges of attempted murder, extortion and kidnapping.

Akl chose to go through an abbreviated process and accepted the charges on attempted murder, extortion, grievous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty, illicit association and aggravated robbery, all acts which took place between 2016 and 2017 when the brothers apparently had a money-lending organization which they ran in a thug-like manner, threatening debtors, holding them against their will and using violence to get them to pay.

According to the district attorney’s office once the foreigners collected they also included excessive amounts of interests.

Two other men associated to the criminal organization, last names Pinnock Campbell and Fernandez Jimenez, chose to face trial and are awaiting the date to be set by the Pavas Criminal Court.