Costa Rica deports eight Salvadorans suspected of gang membership

Costa Rican authorities deported eight Salvadorans with “high criminal profiles” this week and who were accused of being part of gangs, the Costa Rican Immigration Administration reported Wednesday.

The Salvadorans had detained since August in a center for migrants, after being held responsible for crimes of extortion, robbery, drug trafficking, forgery of checks and illegal possession of weapons, the Immigration Administration said in a statement.

Those extradited were identified with the surnames Villega López, Rivera Espinoza, Santos Rodríguez, Hernández Rivera, Valencia Barahona, Miranda Ramos, Moran Sánchez and González Salmerón, some of whom had Interpol arrest warrants.

“The Salvadorans were placed under the orders of the authorities of their country for the corresponding processes” after the extradition, the statement said.

Costa Rica deported 580 people in 2020, of which 34 were identified as having ties to Central American gangs.

Gangs are responsible for much of the criminal violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, members of the Northern Triangle of Central America, considered one of the most violent war-free regions in the world.