Costa Rica

A. Introduction
The United States estimated that more than 80 percent of the primary flow of the cocaine
trafficked to the United States first transited through the Central American corridor in 2012.
Costa Rica’s strategic geographic location linking narcotics producing countries in South
America with the United States, its extensive Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, including the
vulnerable Coco Island in the Pacific Ocean, and Costa Rica’s lack of effective patrolling of
both land and sea borders all contributed to Costa Rica’s status as a drug transshipment point.
The Costa Rican government expressed concern regarding the rising consumption of illicit
narcotics, the increasing presence of Mexican drug trafficking organizations, and the level of
drug-related violence.
President Laura Chinchilla’s administration continued to emphasize security as its top
priority, implementing security taxes, investing in police resources and training, and standing
up new Border Police and Internal Affairs units within the Ministry of Public Security.
B. Drug Control Accomplishments, Policies and Trends
1. Institutional Development
The Costa Rican government continued to work towards its goal, announced in 2010, of
adding 4,000 officers to the national police by 2014. Taking attrition into account, Costa Rica
has realized a net increase of 880 police officers, of which 230 were added in 2012.
In 2012, the Costa Rican government enacted a new tax on corporations, which provided the
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) an additional important revenue stream. The Ministry of
Finance estimated that the tax would generate approximately $72 to $74 million per year.
Costa Rica also enacted a gaming law that includes a tax on casinos and gaming call centers.
The proceeds of the tax will be directed to the Ministries of Justice and Security for prison
infrastructure improvements and police equipment maintenance, respectively.
Costa Rica continued to take steps to enforce its financial and non-financial regulatory
regimes to prevent and detect money laundering. However, additional efforts are necessary in
certain sectors of concern, such as money remittance services. The Attorney General’s Office
(AGO) and Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ) demonstrated their capacity to pursue complex
money laundering cases through the successful prosecution of a high-profile professional
soccer team owner who laundered several million dollars. Costa Rica collaborated closely
with the United States to investigate and prosecute the individual. In addition, the AGO and
OIJ adopted more advanced investigative techniques to further their money laundering
investigations.
In 2012, Costa Rica made strides towards enhancing its police capacity. The Ministry of
Public Security, with U.S. assistance, began implementing COMPSTAT, a statistical
accountability and management tool. The Ministry also continued to revamp its police
academy curriculum for newpolice officers. As a result of the Port Container
Analysis/Interdiction Program created in 2011 with U.S. support, Costa Rican authorities
searched 2,000 containers and seized approximately 1,064 kilograms (kg) of cocaine.
The Costa Rican Coast Guard finished construction of a new coast guard station on the
Caribbean coast. The Air Surveillance Service also purchased two helicopters, and the MPS
completed the $1.2 million remodeling of the Immigration facilities at the Peñas Blancas
checkpoint along the border with Nicaragua.
The United States and Costa Rica actively used the 1991 extradition treaty. In 2012, Costa
Rica arrested 30 fugitives sought by the United States; three were extradited, 26 were
deported, and one was released. Costa Rica is one of six countries (along with Belize, the
Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala and the United States) that ratified the Caribbean
Regional Agreement on Maritime Counter Narcotics, which is now in force.
2. Supply Reduction
The Costa Rican Coast Guard is an under-resourced agency with limited operational capacity,
making the Costa Rican coastline an attractive landing zone for smugglers. Costa Rican-
flagged fishing boats continue to be used by traffickers to smuggle multi-ton shipments of
drugs through the littorals and to provide fuel for “go-fast” boats that favor Pacific routes.
The southern Golfito region also served as a common destination for traffickers to off-load
cocaine for northern transport via the Pan-American Highway. Traffickers continue to
smuggle drugs through the postal system, international courier services, containers, vehicle
traffic, and via individual passengers on international flights. Traffickers use Costa Rica as a
“warehouse” to store narcotics temporarily on their trip north, often landing drugs on Costa
Rican shores from go-fasts and then storing them until further land- or air-based travel can be
arranged. Drug traffickers pay for services rendered to local contacts with drugs instead of
money, leading to domestic drug use, especially of crack cocaine, and contributing to the
high street crime and sense of domestic insecurity in the country.
During 2012, the Costa Rican Drug Control Police eradicated and seized 928 metric tons
(MT) of marijuana, a decrease from the 1,577 MT eradicated and seized in 2011. This
decrease is due in large part to heavy rainfall that limited law enforcement access to growing
regions. Cultivators likely export Costa Rican marijuana to international markets, but also
support domestic consumption. Authorities seized 14.73 MT of cocaine, an increase from
11.2 MT seized in 2011. The Costa Rican government also seized 19.21 kg of heroin and
confiscated approximately $6.2 million in U.S. currency and assets, an increase from $2.38
million seized in 2011. Investigations suggest DTOs intended to smuggle this currency to
command and control structures within Costa Rica, rather than transiting the currency
onwards to another country. Costa Rican authorities made 42,442 drug-related arrests in
2012.
3. Drug Abuse Awareness, Demand Reduction, and Treatment
The Costa Rican Institute on Drugs (ICD) oversees drug prevention efforts and educational
programs throughout the country. The ICD is also responsible for producing and
distributingdecreased the case processing time from two years to three months. The new
procedures include firm guidelines for sentencing and punishment.
C. National Goals, Bilateral Cooperation, and U.S. Policy Initiatives
Costa Rica and the United States cooperate on programs to enhance the interdiction
capabilities of Costa Rican authorities, disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations
and improve citizen safety. The United States is focusing its cooperation on programs that
lead to more effective prosecutions, promote secure borders, and foster safe communities.
In 2012, the United States continued a wide range of justice and security sector assistance to
Costa Rica through the Central America Regional Security Initiative. Efforts included support
to the judicial sector by supporting several investigative technique trainings in areas such as
drug trafficking and money laundering. The United States is assisting the Prosecutor’s Office
in a major restructuring to facilitate a more rapid processing of cases, and funded a U N
Office on Drugs and Crime program with Costa Rica’s judicial school that included mock
trials to improve trial techniques.
Bilateral efforts to improve border security focused on enhancing Costa Rica’s maritime
interdiction capabilities, shoring up its ability to utilize targeted intelligence for containerized
cargo, and assisting in the start-up of the Costa Rican government’s new Border Police. The
United States supported establishment of a new Coast Guard station at Flamingo, on the
northern Pacific coast, and an inspection station at Kilometer 35 on the Pan-American
Highway, a natural chokepoint of roads running north from Panama, expected to be
completed in January 2013. The United States and Costa Rica maintain a bilateral agreement
to facilitate maritime operations against drug trafficking. In March, Costa Rica hosted the
U.S.-sponsored Multilateral Maritime Counterdrug Summit, which offered an opportunity for
coast guard and naval representatives from 12 South and Central American countries to
improve strategies and cooperation against drug trafficking organizations.
The United States continued efforts to strengthen the capacity of the Uniformed Police. In
2012, it completed the third year of a four-year police professionalization program. With U.S.
support, the Uniformed Police implemented the statistical program, COMPSTAT, throughout
Region 1 of the country. This system collects and maps statistics and police responses to
improve accountability at all levels of the Uniformed Police.
D. Conclusion
Costa Rica cooperates with the United States to combat drug trafficking, but due to
inadequate resources and complicated bureaucracy, the country continues to suffer from
drug-related violence and organized crime. As Costa Rican authorities have said, Costa Rica
must allocate more resources to security to reduce the crime rate and diminish Costa Rica’s
attractiveness to drug trafficking organizations. The Costa Rican government should consider
more effectively leveraging its limited resources by: 1) restructuring its police and judicial
institutions; 2) making greater use of advanced investigative techniques; and 3) enacting
additional laws specifically targeting criminal organizations and their proceeds. Costa Rica
could also strengthen its lawenforcement institutions by improving systems for preventing
and addressing corruption. The Costa Rican Coast Guard has the potential to become a more
effective force on the littorals if sufficient resources, training, and guidance are made
available. Costa Rica continued its successful regional partnerships this year and will
continue to benefit from working with neighbors and learning from their experience.