462 kilos of cocaine seized in Costa Rica bound for Portugal

A The operation took place this Sunday at the Gaston Kogan pier, located in Moín, Limón province (Caribbean), where the authorities discovered the shipment of drugs hidden among fresh fruit, which was destined for the port of Setúbal.

“It is important that the Costa Rican police once again act against drug trafficking, detain the kilos of cocaine that would be re-exported, sent from Costa Rica to Europe,” said Minister of Public Security, Mario Zamora, in a statement quoted by the Efe agency. .

The drug was found when agents from the Drug Control Police (PCD) carried out an inspection on the pier and detected several suspicious packages, in which 462 kilos of cocaine were found, said the MSP.

This pier is operated by the Board of Port Administration and Economic Development of the Atlantic Encosta (Japdeva), a state entity.

The main port in Costa Rica is the Moín Container Terminal, located in the same province of Limón (Caribbean) and operated under concession by the international company APM Terminals.

At that container terminal, the government installed, on 13 July, two ‘scanners’ to review all cargo entering and leaving the port, as part of a policy to combat drug trafficking.

Drug trafficking through containers has intensified in recent years in Costa Rica, a situation that has led the current government of President Rodrigo Chaves to install ‘scanners’.

According to the authorities, the drug usually arrives in Costa Rica on boats from South America, and local criminal groups are responsible for receiving shipments, storing them and then introducing them into containers of legal products, to be dispatched. mainly to Europe.

During 2022, the PCD detected at least eight containers with a total of 9.5 tons of cocaine, compared to 19 containers with a load of 16.1 tons of cocaine seized in 2021 and 17.1 tons in 17 containers in 2020.

In 2023, authorities found at least three containers with around 2.2 tons of cocaine.

Also Read: Aircraft with 400kg of cocaine intercepted in Brazil. pilot fled