The Minister of Security Mario Zamora explained to the press that in an articulated work of the different police forces working in the port, and with the help of a scanner, it was possible to witness that one of the containers could be carrying some illicit substance.

Immediately, he said, the established protocols were activated to conduct the profiling and intelligence work.

The container was licitly loaded with fresh fruit to be sent to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, he explained while stressing that the Drug Control Police counted the drugs and seized 500 packages of cocaine (approximately one kilogram each).

During the police raid, a suspect surnamed Peralta, 47, was busted, with no judicial record.

In mid-July, Operation Soberanía was launched to guarantee the security of shipments to and from international markets.

Costa Rica is experiencing an escalated violence described by experts as unprecedented, with homicides reaching 720, higher than last year’s statistics.

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