Costa Rican police uncovered a hidden underground storage facility packed with equipment used for illegal gold mining during weekend operations in Cerro Conchuditas, in Cutris de San Carlos, near the Nicaragua border. The Fuerza Publica (Public Force) said specialized officers from the Operational Support Group and the Intervention Unit used metal detectors to locate the buried site.
Inside the underground bodega, officers seized eight electric generators, seven submersible pumps, three electrical extensions, four rotary hammers and 22 shovels, according to authorities and local reports published after the operation.
The discovery came during two incursions carried out over the weekend in the Conchuditas area, where police have stepped up operations against illegal mining activity. Authorities also said the same weekend actions prevented the extraction of 1,300 sacks of mining sediment from Cerro Conchuditas and led officers to detect 20 pits used to process material taken from the hill.
The seizure adds to growing concern over the expansion of illegal gold mining in northern Costa Rica. Recent reporting has described how activity has spread beyond the original Crucitas zone into Conchuditas, with miners opening tunnels and operating in remote terrain close to the border.
The issue has drawn mounting legal and political pressure. This week, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Chamber ordered urgent action against illegal mining in Crucitas, including a permanent police presence and stronger enforcement measures, after finding repeated failures by state institutions to contain the damage.
Authorities say police will maintain operations in the region as part of a broader push to slow illegal extraction, which has raised alarms over deforestation, river contamination and the growing role of organized criminal networks in the northern border zone.
