A joint operation of several police units last Sunday led to the seizure of 200,000 packs of cigarettes that entered the country without paying taxes through the Caribbean port of Limón.
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.
