Costa Rican Coast Guard captain arrested on international drug trafficking charges

The Costa Rican Prosecutor’s Office is charging a coast guard captain for allegedly providing fuel to drug traffickers. Police arrested the captain last week.

The Drug Control Police reported finding $64,000 in the Puntarenas home of Coast Guard Captain A. Moya. Authorities have not provided his full first name. They also reported seizing cellphones and computers from the home.

According to a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office, Moya served and lived in the town of Golfito, on the Osa Peninsula.

Prosecutors are seeking six months preventive detention for Moya while they continue their investigation. A spokeswoman for the Prosecutor’s Office said that Moya could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Investigators allege that Moya collaborated with a drug trafficking group that was arrested in May. Four members were detained on charges that they were shipping drugs by boat from South America to the United States and Mexico.

The Prosecutor’s Office also said there was a connection between this group and a group captured by the United States off the coast of Ecuador. That group of three was captured with 380 kilograms of cocaine on board.