The concert by Colombian singer Beéle scheduled for tonight in Costa Rica has been canceled less than 24 hours before the show, leaving ticket holders waiting for details on how to get their money back. Beéle was scheduled to perform tonight, at Parque Viva in La Guácima, Alajuela, as part of his international Borondo Tour.
Ticket company Kuikpei confirmed the cancellation last night, saying the event could no longer go ahead because of what it described as extraordinary circumstances involving both a judicial investigation connected to the concert’s production and immigration problems affecting the event.
The concert was being organized by HBarboza Producciones, owned by Costa Rican concert promoter Hugo Benavides Barboza. Barboza was arrested Oct. 7 as part of Operation Éxodo, a major investigation into suspected money laundering involving an alleged drug-trafficking organization.
The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), is investigating whether money connected to a criminal organization allegedly led by Edwin Vargas García, known as Sobrino, was invested in large entertainment events in Costa Rica.
Authorities say approximately $859,000 connected to the organization was allegedly invested in three events held during 2024 and 2025 in which Barboza and fellow concert promoter Don Stockwell were involved. The OIJ has not publicly identified the three events and has stressed that the international artists who performed at them are not part of the investigation.
There is also no allegation from authorities that the Beéle concert scheduled for today was financed with illegal money. Instead, the significance of the Operation Éxodo investigation is that Barboza, whose company was producing tonight’s show, is one of the people under investigation.
The singer’s management team offered another explanation for why the concert ultimately could not take place. In a statement released yesterday, Beéle’s representatives said the promoter failed to complete the necessary procedures to obtain work permits for members of the artist’s team.
The statement said Beéle and his staff had remained willing to perform and had tried to find a solution, but the immigration problem made the concert impossible to carry out. The artist’s representatives said members of the team were unable to complete their entry into Costa Rica because of the permit issue.
Kuikpei said immigration permits were the responsibility of the concert producer and not the ticketing company. The cancellation ended several days of uncertainty surrounding the show. After Barboza’s arrest last week, questions immediately arose over whether the Beéle concert would proceed. At that time, the event remained listed for Oct. 17 and ticket sales continued.
That changed shortly after 9 p.m. last night, when Kuikpei announced that the concert had officially been canceled. Attention now turns to refunds. Kuikpei said customers who purchased tickets will receive their money back and that the company will publish instructions explaining the refund process beginning Monday, Oct. 19.
Ticket holders are being advised to keep their purchase confirmations and follow Kuikpei’s official channels for information about deadlines and procedures. The cancellation is the second major Costa Rica concert affected within days by the fallout surrounding Operation Éxodo. Earlier this week, organizers canceled the Dec. 3 performance by American rapper Snoop Dogg, which had been promoted by Stockwell Entretenimiento. Don Stockwell was also detained during the Oct. 7 raids and remains under investigation.
The two cancellations are likely to increase scrutiny of Costa Rica’s concert industry, particularly how large events are financed and what protections exist for consumers when a show is canceled at the last minute. In the Beéle case, however, several issues need to remain separate.
Barboza is under investigation in Operation Éxodo, but he has not been convicted of a crime. Authorities have not alleged that tonight’s Beéle concert itself was financed with money from drug trafficking. At the same time, Beéle’s management says problems with work permits prevented his team from entering Costa Rica and ultimately made the performance impossible.
For fans who had planned to attend, the immediate issue is much simpler: the concert will not take place, and they must now wait until Monday for Kuikpei to explain how their refunds will be processed.
