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Costa Rica organized crime
Costa Rica homicide rate hits record high
After several years of decreasing or stable homicide rates, the number of killings in Costa Rica spiked in 2015, leading law enforcement officials to call for more aggressive prevention, investigation and prosecution of organized crime.
Organized crime prosecutor named new director of Costa Rica’s investigative police
Walter Espinoza, a 47-year-old prosecutor, steps into the position as OIJ chief at a time when Costa Rica struggles with killings tied to organized crime.
Hit men gun down couple with drug trafficking record in San José
The execution in the middle of rush-hour traffic was the latest suspected narco-related killing as the government searches for a strategy to tackle organized crime here.
Costa Rica’s Solís authorizes strategy to fight money laundering, terrorism financing
“I want to once more ratify Costa Rica’s opinion in the sense that those ills — organized crime, terrorism — must be fought off in all ways possible by the international community,” the president said.
Desamparados residents plead for help as the San José canton turns into a gang war zone
L. Arias -
OIJ official: “Victims are being tortured or mutilated, and most of these crimes occur in the streets. Previously we had information of at least six organized groups operating in Desamparados, but our intelligence now says that these gangs have merged into two major groups that are disputing control of the area.”
Costa Rican police dismantle international drug trafficking gang
L. Arias -
Agents of Costa Rica's Drug Control Police on Tuesday morning arrested nine suspects accused of belonging to a criminal organization dedicated to smuggling drugs into Europe.
Costa Rica smashes human smuggling ring; 5 cops arrested, 47 Nicaraguan immigrants discovered in stash house
In 24 simultaneous raids early Saturday morning in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, Judicial Investigation Police took down a well-coordinated international human smuggling ring that operated in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Police had known about the criminal network for 10 years.