SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Costa Rican authorities have detained suspected gang members on charges of producing and trafficking the synthetic drug fentanyl, officials announced on Tuesday. These are the first arrests in connection with the potent opioid, which has been linked to a crisis of overdoses in the United States.
Four individuals, two of whom are Costa Rican and two Colombian, were arrested in an operation supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The operation included raids in three towns in central Costa Rica, where 1,100 fentanyl pills were seized, according to Security Minister Mario Zamora at a press conference. Officials also discovered what they described as a fentanyl laboratory.
Zamora emphasized that the arrests “raises alarms because it confirms the presence of fentanyl” in Costa Rica. He stated that the drug is being brought in by international gangs, but did not provide further details. According to government data, Costa Rican authorities had been conducting 10 fentanyl investigations since last year.
Fears that more fentanyl busts are likely are increasing as the consumption and trafficking of the drug, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, are rapidly growing. This follows the recent seizure of nearly half a ton (454 kg) of fentanyl pills in Honduras earlier this month.
In Costa Rica, violent crime has spiked this year, with homicides reaching a record high. The rise in crime has been attributed to gang turf battles over the country’s role as a major transit point for illicit trade.
The fentanyl arrests come at a time when about 70% of Costa Ricans disapprove of President Rodrigo Chaves’ efforts to combat crime, according to a recent poll.
In the United States, around three-quarters of the approximately 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021 involved an opioid, according to government data. Deadly fentanyl is increasingly mixed in with other illicit drugs.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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