COSTA RICA NEWS – A 57 year old man was arrested Saturday at the Peñas Blancas border post for trying to enter the country with a van which had hidden $ 1 million, and his son, wanted for drug trafficking in El Salvador.
The cash was found hidden in a spare tire. The men arrested were identified as 57 year old Dávila Ponce and his 29 year old son, Dávila Martinez.
The Ministro de Seguridad Publica (Security Minister) Celso Gamboa explained that the younger man last week abandoned a truck carrying about 127 kilograms (280 pounds) of cocaine after Salvadoran police spotted him.
Gustavo Mata, vice minister of security, said the Costa Rican arrived the El Amatillo, the immigration checkpoint between Honduras and El Salvador, but got nervous and fled, leaving the truck behind when an official said they would be inspecting it with a scanner. In searching the vehicle they found the drugs and issued an alert.
Hours later, in Costa Rica, officials of the Policia Control de Drogas (PCD) – Drug Control Police, had their eye on a van trying to enter the country, and to their surprise inside they found the younger Dávila wanted in El Salvador. Authorities believe the younger man headed for Nicaragua after abandoning the truck in El Salvador, to meet up with his father before making their way into Costa Rica.
“We were expecting to find illegal drugs or money in the van, it was a surprise to find that the younger Dávila” explained Minister Gamboa, adding that the pair had been under investigation for months by the PCD.
The two men face charges of alleged money laundering and are being held in Liberia. If found guilty they face imprisonment of between eight to twenty years. Authorities say the father and son are members of the same drug gang, the name was not made public.
