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Drug War

Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s police force plans to add 1,000 officers

The Tico Times - January 10, 2017

Crime

Judge approves extradition of Mexican drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán

Costa Rica

Five Costa Ricans caught with 600 kilos of cocaine off Colombian coast

Costa Rica

Park rangers arrested in drug bust

The Tico Times’ tennis section covers the ATP and WTA tours, the four Grand Slams, and Latin American players competing on the international circuit for English-speaking readers in Costa Rica and Central America. Reporting by Tennis Correspondent Steven Hodel. Subscribe via RSS to follow our coverage.

US President Obama commutes sentences of 95 drug offenders

The Tico Times -

One of the inmates granted clemency was Sharanda Jones, a 48-year-old Texas woman who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a single cocaine offense. She was a first-time, nonviolent offender.

If you fly between Chicago and L.A. you might be a drug dealer, according to the DEA

The Tico Times -

If you stop and question enough of the 3 million people who fly from Chicago to Los Angeles, eventually you'll get lucky and stumble upon a drug trafficker.

‘Guzmán?’ Video casts new light on Mexico kingpin escape

The Tico Times -

New surveillance footage of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán's July 11 escape featured for the first time audio from the maximum-security prison cell near Mexico City.

PHOTOS: Costa Rica’s new crime-fighting machine

The Tico Times -

The Tico Times had exclusive access to the inaugural mission of Costa Rica’s new fully armored crime-fighting vehicle, nicknamed “The Protector.”

In heroin fight, White House tries to break down walls between public health, police

The Tico Times -

As heroin overdoses and deaths soar in many parts of the United States, the White House plans to announce on Monday an initiative that will for the first time pair public health and law enforcement in an effort to shift the emphasis from punishment to the treatment of addicts.

Biggest submarine drug bust ever yields $181 million in cocaine off Pacific coast of Central America

The Tico Times -

A U.S. plane first spotted the smuggling vessel 200 miles south of Mexico off the coast of Central America. It was carrying a total of 16,000 pounds of narcotics.

‘The Beast’: Costa Rica’s new crime-fighting machine

The Tico Times -

The Beast, currently being modified for local use in the land of pura vida, will make its debut in the next few weeks, law enforcement officials say.

‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and the Sinaloa cartel have growing ties to Costa Rica, authorities say

The Tico Times -

At least one Mexican man believed to be living in Costa Rica has ties to the notorious drug kingpin, who recently escaped from a maximum security Mexican prison. El Chapo even is said to have designed a plan to break that man out of Costa Rica’s La Reforma prison.

Drug traffickers who cooperate with the US government have it pretty good – too good, watchdog says

The Tico Times -

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Drug traffickers who cooperate with U.S. federal investigators are poorly vetted, and the Drug Enforcement Administration did not properly monitor at least 240 informants — some of whom crossed the line into illegal activity and were under criminal investigation by other authorities.

Chapo’s motorcycle freedom ride spurs doubts about kingpin jail

The Tico Times -

Among the kingpins still held at Altiplano, according to the government, are Servando "La Tuta" Gómez Martínez, leader of the Knights Templar gang; Mario Cardenas Guillén of the Gulf Cartel; and Edgar Valdéz Villarreal, alias La Barbie, of the Beltrán Leyva cartel.