Border police seize $68,000 in cash near Panamanian border

A drug sniffing dog helped police find $68,204 in cash hidden in a truck near the Panamanian border after 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Border Police at the Kilometer 35 Customs post outside Paso Canoas along the Inter-American Highway arrested two Costa Rican suspects from Puntarenas with the last names Morales González and Palacios Morantes. The suspects did not have criminal records, according to remarks by Public Security Vice Minister Gustavo Mata.

Mata noted that organized crime groups are increasingly using people without criminal records to ferry drugs and money across Costa Rican borders.

Morales and Palacios did not claim the nearly $70,000, which was found wrapped in three packages with adhesive tape. Costa Rican customs law requires people to claim any sum of cash equal to or greater than $10,000 or its equivalent in colones, the Costa Rican currency.