QCOSTARICA — In the last year, the number of fugitives arrested in Costa Rica who had an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) increased from six to 16.
Of the proceedings requested by Interpol, 25% have been linked to people accused of drug crimes. Those who commit offenses such as international trafficking of illicit substances, violation of the law on psychotropic substances and drug trafficking are the most wanted.
Following drug offenses, another group of 15 people has been requested both locally and internationally for different reasons.
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Mario Zamora, Minister of Public Security, indicated that the work at border posts has improved, which has allowed for more arrests during this year.
“Since the Government made the decision to control one by one the people who pass through the southern and northern migratory flow, who come by land from the Darien Gap of Panama, five have been found with a red alert from Interpol for their relationship with terrorist groups,” he emphasized.
In 2024, several people wanted by international authorities were detected in the country.
One of them is a man of Venezuelan nationality, with the last names Villegas Rodríguez, who was located in the country traveling with a group of migrants from Panama, who was wanted in Chile on charges of murder.
Another case is that of a Salvadoran man, with the last name Pineda, who served a sentence in Costa Rica for violating the drug law, after being released, Interpol in El Salvador reported that he was linked to the Mara Salvatrucha. For this reason, efforts were coordinated between both nations so that he could return to El Salvador to face the charges.
Likewise, a 45-year-old man with the surname Miranda had an arrest warrant pending for a sentence for the charge of homicide. The arrest took place when he tried to enter Costa Rica through the Juan Santamaría airport from Colombia.
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“The improvement in the systems used by the Immigration Police and the correlation of joint work with Interpol is what has allowed this operational success that places us as one of the most efficient countries in the application of red alerts,” added Zamora.
Likewise, in December police authorities arrested a Costa Rican woman with the surname González who was wanted for drug-related crimes. She was located by Interpol in Mexico and on December 13 her extradition was carried out.
One of the most striking cases that occurred in recent days was the capture of a Guatemalan with the surname Olivares Reyes who was identified in Pérez Zeledón while juggling at a traffic light. He had an irregular immigration status and after consultation, it was confirmed that he was a fugitive from justice for an attempted femicide that occurred in November 2024.
“The joint work of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), mainly with the Immigration Police and the Fuerza Publica (national police) units, is what has allowed an improvement in the number of arrests,” said Zamora.
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Also in December, a 16-year-old teenager accused of kidnapping was arrested, who was detected at the international airport in Mexico City. The minor participated in a regional bowling tournament in Costa Rica, so the Costa Rican authorities alerted the Mexican authorities.
Since 2015, there have been 103 arrests.
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