A U.S. surveillance plane spotted an unregistered vessel Monday afternoon and reported to Costa Rican authorities its location 50 nautical miles off the Caribbean coast of Limón.
Costa Rican Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata said Friday that institutions such as the Prosecutor’s Office and the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) must collaborate more to combat crime, and that citizens have a key role in reporting criminal activity in their communities.
According to OIJ Director Francisco Segura Montero, 45 people have been shot dead by motorcyclists since the beginning of 2014. Honduras, Guatemala and several other Latin American countries prohibit passengers on motorcycles. But it's unclear whether the rule has reduced crime in those countries.
The raids and arrests were the culmination of a Drug Control Police investigation into a group that allegedly trafficked drugs and cash across the Peñas Blancas border crossing with Nicaragua and on to Guatemala and Honduras.
Gustavo Mata, vice minister of public security and former Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) deputy director, will assume the minister’s post on Feb. 16.
Amid rumors swarming around Casa Presidencial this week of a major shakeup in President Luis Guillermo Solís’ Cabinet, word came Tuesday that Public Security Minister Celso Gamboa would step down effective Tuesday, Feb. 10.
A Diario Extra reporter mistakes the Hollywood film "Runner Runner" for an erotic movie featuring Costa Rican police officers, provoking an angry reaction from Costa Rica's public security minister.
The King Air F90, rechristened MSP 020, was seized while carrying a metric ton of cocaine in Costa Rica. The plane has since changed its feathers and has participated in an ambulatory mission and a historic flight to Isla del Coco.
The simulator, the first of its kind in Costa Rica, copies the cockpit of a Piper Seneca III aircraft and runs training programs in great detail. It cost $305,000 and was delivered to Public Security Minister Celso Gamboa, who thanked the U.S. government for the donation.
Responding to pressure from residents in Costa Rica's Northern Zone, who say they increasingly have become targets for assaults and robberies, the Public Security Ministry announced Thursday that it had conducted the first of several sweeps of the area in an effort to catch the bad guys.
