Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán and the Sinaloa Cartel used land transportation, such as trucks and other vehicles, to move cocaine shipments between Costa Rica and North America.
The US Department of Justice revealed that this was the way Guzmán used to infiltrate the country.
In addition to Costa Rica, this method was replicated in countries such as Honduras, El Salvador and Panama.
In at least 20 years, Guzman’s group moved 200,000 tons of cocaine to the United States and amassed a fortune of up to 14 billion dollars for these illicit activities.
Guzmán’s workers in those countries (including Costa Rica) have accepted delivery of cocaine shipments that had been transported by truck or other land transportation methods,”
said the statement by the US Department of Justice.
Guzmán probably opted for air transportation in Central America, the more exhaustive controls in the US. Not mentioning specific countries, the American Justice found that
some clandestine tracks were established to facilitate the landing of drug laden planes.”
For example, last year in Costa Rica, the Ministry of Public Security (MSP) confirmed the detection of more than thirty clandestine landing fields in the North Pacific, Central Pacific and South Pacific.
Central America is the bridge for cocaine transportation between Colombian and Mexican groups. In addition, drug trafficking groups build warehouses where they “cool” cargoes.
On March 17th, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the National Security Intelligence Directorate (DIS) arrested two subjects in Grano de Oro, Turrialba, under suspicion of operating a Sinaloa Cartel cell.
In November 2016, the Drug Control Police (PCD) also arrested 14 people for carrying out activities for the Mexican cartel.
And even before that, in June 2015, two Mexican citizens from Sinaloa were arrested in a luxury home in San Rafael de Heredia, Costa Rica, on suspicion of engaging in international drug trafficking.