Q COSTARICA — Without hiding their relationship, legislator-elect for the Pueblo Soberano (PPSO) party, José Miguel Villalobos, and lawyer for President Rodrigo Chaves, has acknowledged his sadness over the arrest last week of his friend Carlos Solórzano Campos, known as “Chanchita” or “Wakanda,” who is also a lawyer and arrested on drug trafficking charges, with the intention of extraditing him to the United States.
Legislator-elect José Miguel Villalobos denies knowing about that case, although he admits being a close friend and represented him in two money laundering cases.
“I am his friend, I have affection and fondness for him. I have had dinner with him, I know his house, I know his family, I know his children. I feel sad about what happened,” Villalobos stated on Thursday at the Legislative Assembly, where he was approached by the press.
Villalobos also posted this message on his Facebook page.
The legislator-elect noted he had a phone conversation with his friend and pointed out that their names are both listed on the sign outside Solórzano’s law firm in the Southern Zone.
Still, he made it clear they haven’t actually worked together.
According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigations, Solórzano, a lawyer, was allegedly part of a criminal organization dedicated to shipping large quantities of cocaine from Costa Rica to North America, using speedboats, ships, semi-submersibles, aircraft, and land routes.
The arrest was carried out by the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ)—Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, in coordination with the DEA, and now the Costa Rican Public Prosecutor’s Office will request precautionary measures while the extradition process proceeds, similar to the case of former magistrate Celso Gamboa.
Solórzanoa has been wanted since 2019 by the Eastern District Court of Texas for alleged international drug trafficking.
Previously, President Rodrigo Chaves stated that Villalobos is a legal professional who practices law like anyone else, and therefore did not criticize his contacts or his professional career, in which he has had to defend various drug traffickers.
The Name of Celso Gamboa. Last Thursday (March 26), CRHoy.com reported that the arrest of Solorzáno in 2015 was publicly confirmed that same year by Celso Gamboa, the first Costa Rican formally extradited for international drug trafficking.
At that time, Gamboa was serving as an assistant prosecutor for the Public Ministry and was the one who confirmed the news of the case against Solórzano, along with the then-interim director of the OIJ, Gerald Campos Valverde, now Minister of Justice and a close associate of President Rodrigo Alberto Chaves Robles.
Gamboa even stated a decade ago that the Prosecutor’s Office obtained records from the National Registry regarding properties linked to the drug trafficking group, to prevent any transfer or movement of those properties. He also referred to the use of helipads by the “Pelleja” gang.
Solórzano is the 18th Costa Rican subjected to an extradition process.