Costa Rican authorities confirmed Tuesday that they had seized nearly a metric ton of marijuana and arrested a foreigner near Playa Llorona, located on the Osa Peninsula.
The successful operation was the result of a tip about a suspicious vessel near the mouth of the Sirena River in Corcovado National Park. There, police located a low-profile boat and detained a 36-year-old Ecuadorian national, according to a Public Security Ministry (MSP) release.
Authorities found 1,246 packages of marijuana — totaling 947 kilos — on the beach.
“It’s not common to seize marijuana in the South Pacific; we traditionally find cocaine,” said Public Security Minister Michael Soto. “We suspect, with high probability, that this marijuana was for consumption in Costa Rica and that it was coming from the coast of Ecuador or Colombia.”
The 947 kilos are valued at up to 426,150,000 colones (about $754,550), Soto said.
According to MSP data, Costa Rican authorities have already seized more marijuana in 2019 than they did in all of 2018 — 7.36 tons this year compared to 5.78 tons last year.
In a separate bust, Drug Control Police (PCD) found 100 kg of cocaine as a 36-year-old Guatemalan attempted to cross Costa Rica’s border into Nicaragua at Peñas Blancas, Guanacaste.
Mixed into a pile of scrap, the Guatemalan was transporting two sealed metal crates that were filled with packages of cocaine.
