Border police seized 20,000 pirate avocados at the Panama border on Thursday afternoon, the latest in the ongoing avocado saga that began when Costa Rica banned Mexican avocado imports a year ago.
Colombia's Norte de Santander is where the "Bolivarian dream" was born. But with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's recent move to close the border and send Colombians back, its capital, Cúcuta, is beginning to feel the pain. The Tico Times takes a closer look.
A joint operation involving officials from three government agencies on Tuesday resulted in the confiscation of 10,687 cigarettes that entered the country under irregular circumstances, confirmed the Public Security Ministry (MSP).
Liquor, beer and cigarettes are the three most common items that smugglers transport across the border. Fiscal Control Police last year confiscated 123,072 bottles of beer, 36,464 bottles of whisky and more than 21 million cigarettes.
Officers of the National Police and the Fiscal Control Police at the community of Paso Canoas, next to the Panama border, on Thursday seized a shipment of liquor with an approximate value of ₡20 million (some $38,000) hidden inside a tanker.
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.
Members of Costa Rica's Chamber of Commerce (CCCR) delivered President Luis Guillermo Solís a list of petitions asking him to increase actions to fight smuggling, tax evasion, black market sales and excessive bureaucracy in public agencies.
