Barely one hour after the official opening of a new police checkpoint at Kilometer 35 of the southern stretch of the Inter-American Highway, National Police officers seized a shipment of contraband merchandise inside a bus owned by a company that travels between Panama and Costa Rica, the Public Security Ministry reported.
Border Police over the weekend conducted 25 operations along Costa Rica's northern border with Nicaragua, confiscating approximately ₡10 million ($18,000) in contraband from smugglers.
Two years after Costa Rica passed an aggressive national anti-smoking law, the number of illegal smokes seized by law enforcement has skyrocketed by 89 percent, according to figures from the Finance Ministry.
Contraband might seem like a good deal, but law enforcement officials argue that the illicit trade aids money launderers, weakens an already strained tax collection system and could even pose a health hazard.
Panama imposed a record fine of 14 million dollars on the Spanish company Naturgy for "failing to comply" with quality standards in electricity distribution,...
IDB Invest announced a partnership with Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR) to launch Costa Rica's first blue bond. IDB Invest committed $25 million...