Costa Rica Coast Guard agents and National Police officers rescued three fishermen who were tied up and thrown into the ocean by assailants attempting to steal their shrimp and boat motor off Chira Island, in the Gulf of Nicoya, the Public Security Ministry said Friday.
The victims, identified as Ezequiel Mendoza, Norman Pérez and Olger Corrales, were scooped from the ocean and brought to safety in the sixth Coast Guard operation to prevent similar crimes in the gulf this year alone, according to a ministry press release.
National Coast Guard Service Commissioner Mart í n Arias explained that the agents were responding to an emergency call at 7 p.m. Thursday that reported several men on a ship being forced to hand over their catches and boat motor.
“The response was fast because three of our boats were on (fishing) ban enforcement patrol and once we got to the scene we found that three of the victims, who had been catching shrimp, had been thrown into the water,” he said.
The assailants fled the scene.
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