Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba, alias “Shock,” has been declared extraditable by authorities in the United Kingdom and is expected to be transferred to the United States aboard a DEA aircraft, Costa Rican judicial officials confirmed Wednesday.
Picado, 44, has been held in British custody since late December 2024. Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, known as the OIJ, said it was notified by U.S. and British authorities that the extradition process can now move forward. Michael Soto, acting director of the OIJ, said the transfer will require different logistics from recent extraditions carried out directly from Costa Rica because Picado is being held in Europe.
“In the coming days, coordination will take place for a DEA plane to travel to the United Kingdom to pick up this subject,” Soto said. He described the case as an important step in cooperation between Costa Rica, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Picado, who is Nicaraguan-born and later became a naturalized Costa Rican citizen, is identified by authorities as the alleged leader of the Cartel del Caribe Sur, a criminal organization investigated for international drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering. Costa Rican authorities link the case to Operación Traición, one of the largest anti-drug operations in the country’s history.
The case also marks another major test of Costa Rica’s new extradition framework. For decades, Costa Rican nationality protected citizens from being sent abroad to face criminal prosecution. That changed after a 2025 reform allowing nationals to be extradited in cases involving drug trafficking and terrorism. Costa Rica’s first extradition of one of its own nationals under the reform took place in March 2026, when former security minister and ex-magistrate Celso Gamboa and Edwin López Vega, alias “Pecho de Rata,” were sent to the United States.
Picado’s case is different because he was not arrested in Costa Rica. He was detained in the United Kingdom while traveling from France, after U.S. authorities issued an international warrant tied to a drug trafficking case in Texas. Local reports said legal proceedings in Britain had slowed the extradition process, but those issues were resolved this week, clearing the way for his transfer.
U.S. authorities have also targeted Picado’s alleged financial network. In January, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Picado, his brother Jordie Kevin Picado Grijalba, alias “Noni,” Tonny Alexander Peña Russell, Picado’s wife Estefanía McDonald Rodríguez and his mother-in-law Anita Yorleny McDonald Rodríguez.
The Treasury Department said the organization led by “Shock” and “Noni” was responsible for importing cocaine from Colombia into Costa Rica, storing it in warehouses and moving shipments onward to the United States and Europe. The agency also accused relatives and associated companies of helping launder proceeds from the alleged drug operation.
As a result of the OFAC sanctions, any property or interests in property belonging to the designated individuals that are in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported. The restrictions also apply to entities owned 50% or more by sanctioned individuals.
British media previously reported that investigators tracked Picado’s movements in Europe through social media posts made by his wife during trips to several countries, including France and the United Kingdom. The reports said those posts helped authorities identify his location before his arrest.
Costa Rican authorities have presented the case as part of a broader push against organized crime networks using the country as a cocaine transit point. The U.S. Treasury has also described Costa Rica as a major transshipment route in the regional drug trade, pointing to growing cooperation between Costa Rican authorities and U.S. agencies.
