Foreigners leaving the country by way of the north (Nicaragua) must leave through the authorized immigration post at Peñas Blancas, Costa Rican authorities warn.
Among the obvious reason, those leaving the country must submit to sanitary measures by COVID-19, for example, foreigner residents will have their migratory status in Costa Rica suspended and will not be able to return during the national emergency.
For this and other reasons, there are individuals who will get you across the border, through “blind spots”, evading migratory controls.
One of those is a Costa Rican man last name Rodríguez, who was detained by the Immigration Police for being suspected of illegally removing foreigners from the country along the northern border.
According to the authorities, the “vivazo” (profiteer) charged ¢30,000 colones per person to take them in a pickup truck and then leave them abandoned, to on their own cross the border undetected.
Immigration arrested the suspect on Wednesday, April 29, just as he was taking five foreigners to the border in the area of La Trocha. He now faces charges of smuggling migrants.
Other “smugglers” help foreigners get to the other side in cars, vans, even on foot. They claim to know the routes across without detection or even claim to have authorities in their pocket.