While the country is in holiday mode, several wanted by Costa Rica took the opportunity thinking they could slip through the immigration controls points at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), Peñas Blancas and Las Tablillas.
However, they were detected by the immigration police thanks to the “Special Operations of Semana Santa” that began on March 23 and will be carried out to April 4, with a total of 209 officials throughout the country monitoring movements of travelers entering or leaving the country by air, land, sea, and rivers.
Related: Patriots’ Duron Harmon Denied Entry Into Costa Rica, Caught With Marijuana
At the San Jose airport, an American identified by his last name Webb was arrested on Monday, who, when attempting to leave the country, detected by the system through the Migración Visible (Visible Migration) process was an international arrest warrant, wanted by the Cartago criminal court since 2009, for the crime of rape.
Also on Monday, at the Peñas Blancas border with Nicaragua, immigration officials detained the Nicaraguan with surname Mairena Guevara, wanted since 2017 by the Criminal Court of the First Circuit of San Jose.
On Wednesday, a Nicaraguan with the surnames Obando Jiron is detained when trying to leave the country through the Las Tablillas border post. The man had an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the Heredia criminal court for homicide since 2017.
Also on Wednesday, a Canadian, identified by his last name Toledo, was arrested as he intended to enter Costa Rica by way of the Juan Santamaria airport. Toledo is wanted by the San Jose criminal court since October 2017 for sexual abuse against a person of legal age.
The Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería Costa Rica (DGME) reports a total of 78.939 people have left the country and 58,110 people entered in the period of March 23 and 26, during which a total of 209 people were refused entry at the Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber airports and the land border posts of Peñas Blancas, Los Chiles and Las Tablillas in the north with Nicaragua and Sixaola and Paso Canoas in the south with Panama.
Photos courtesy of the DGME.
With respect to the regulation of immigration fines, beginning on April 20, 2018, for overstaying a visit in Costa Rica, the DGME has prepared the following video (in Spanish).
