Q COSTA RICA NEWS – Six Cubans, who entered the country illegally, were arrested while travelling in a the back of a truck carrying gas cylinders. The Ministerio de Seguridad Publica (MSP) – Ministry of Public Security – confirmed the migrants were detained at a police checkpoint in La Gamba de Golfito, on the Inter-American highway.
The MSP says the driver of the truck is under investigation, arrested by police for the crime of human trafficking.
The report by La Nacion says the migrants paid US$1,100 dollars for the trip, whose final destination was not revealed to authorities.
Of the 26,000 migrants who entered Costa Rica between November 2015 and December 2016, in their attempt to reach the United States, some 8,000 were Cubans, according to official government figures.
Migrants making their way through Costa Rica from Panama and headed north is nothing new. However, in late 2015, in the country began a migrant crisis when Nicaragua closed its borders to all migrants.
Currently several thousand African and Haitian migrants are still in Costa Rica, housed in temporary shelters in area mainly in La Cruz, near the northern border.
Of the Cuban migrants arrested Sunday, authorities say they are in good health and housed in a local hotel near Golfito, while their future is being determined.
