Q COSTA RICA — On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Costa Rican authorities extradited notorious drug kingpin Gilbert Bell Fernández, known as “Macho Coca,” to the United States, where he is facing federal international drug trafficking charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The Elite tactical units extracted Bell from the maximum-security wing of La Reforma prison to the “base 2” of the Juan Santamaría International (San José) Airport, from where he flown out of Costa Rica on a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) aircraft bound for New York.
Gabriel Lozano Bonilla, alias “Compadre” (a Colombian-born naturalized Costa Rican citizen), was extradited on the exact same flight.
According to Costa Rica’s Fiscal General, Carlo Díaz, the DEA links both directly to the Clan del Golfo (Gulf Clan), Colombia’s largest neo-paramilitary group and most powerful drug cartel. According to Insightcrime.org, founded in 2006, the organization controls major cocaine trafficking routes, generates billions through illegal mining and extortion, and was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in December 2025.
Bell, 63, is accused by U.S. prosecutors of leading a large criminal operation that gathered and shipped huge amounts of cocaine from Limón, Costa Rica, to North America between March 2022 and August 2023. The U.S. case presents proof that Bell negotiated to sell a drug sample and later arranged a shipment of 700 kilograms of cocaine headed for New York with an undercover federal agent.
Bell’s transfer marks a major change in Costa Rica’s legal system. Until 2025, the country didn’t allow its citizens to be extradited.
Bell became the third Costa Rican to be extradited to the United States under these new rules. The extradition process comes with firm judicial guarantees. Bell, along with former magistrate Celso Gamboa and Edwin Lopez, the first two to be extradited, is assured they won’t face the death penalty or a prison term longer than 50 years.
The video
Thursday afternoon, the Ministerio Público posted a video on its social media accounts in which Bell recounted the alleged torture he endured during his time at the maximum security wing of the La Reforma prison.
Among the abuses, he reported problems with food, medicine, pests, lack of light, and even the development of dementia.
However, one of the most striking moments was when “Macho Coca” thanked the United States for taking him into custody.
What did Macho Coca say?
“I thank the United States for taking me from this country. At this moment, I thank them for taking me; they are saving my life,” the now-extradited man stated.
He also indicated that he believes he will “live a few more days,” stating that his body could no longer endure what he was going through.
According to Bell, these types of situations and “torture” occurring in Costa Rican prisons should be investigated by judges. He even invited President Laura Fernández to visit the prison.
