Groups linked to drug trafficking and illegal fishing used, in recent years, fuel subsidized by the state to commit crimes.
Given the legal complexity to suspend the supply in these cases, the Costa Rican Institute of Fishing and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA) is studying, along with the Public Ministry, mechanisms to suspend the subsidy to suspicious vessels.
Gustavo Meneses, chief of the institute, said they are close to concluding a digital control process that will improve the inspection on each boat with subsidized fuel.
Currently, INCOPESCA cannot do anything in suspicious cases: it needs to be legally strengthened to remove a permit from a vessel.
However, it is important to highlight that questionings of this kind are not new.
There have been reports since 2008 from the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) on flaws in control. It was known that the boats linked to drug seizures used fuel with preferential price.