Costa Rica sentences four members of Mexican jewelry thief gang ‘Los Mazos’ to prison

Four members of the Mexican jewelry thief gang known as “Los Mazos” were sentenced to 16 years in prison, the local prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

Those sentenced are: Javier Licmaym Flores Casas, Sergio Mauricio Mondragón Martiarena, Gonzalo Ramírez Santacruz and Mariana Raquel Montes Ibarra. They were condemned by a capital court for the crimes of aggravated robbery and illicit association, the prosecution said in a statement.

The four gang members, who remained in detention centers in San José, were arrested days after the band had made two almost simultaneous robberies on Oct. 31, 2017 to watch shops in Escazú, west of the capital. The group then fled in vehicles carrying a hoard of high-value watches.

The group, which also carried out similar robberies in Canada, the United States and Uruguay, is characterized by the speed with which it acts. Its members enter jewelry stores in disguises and use hammers to break the glass of the showcases where the most valuable watches are displayed.

In Costa Rica, the stolen watches had a calculated value in more than $1.35 million, the prosecution said.

According to the investigation of the case, Montes arrived in Costa Rica from Mexico on an exploratory mission. He visited jewelers posing as a client to learn the security measures of the premises.

Another of the sentenced, Mondragón, entered the Costa Rica on Nov. 3 to receive the stolen watches.

Three days later, Montes, Flores and Ramírez were arrested at Juan Santamaría International Airport when they tried to leave the country, while Mondragón was arrested in San José with 123 watches in his possession.

The group will remain in preventive detention while the sentence is ratified.

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