Starting a 5 p.m. on Thursday, all the officers of the Fuerza Publica (National Police) took part in the second police mega-operation in different parts of the country.
This was confirmed by newly appointed Minister of Security, Michael Soto Rojas.
The former sub-director of the OIJ also took an active participation the operation, visiting conflictive neighborhoods such as Las Tablas in Desamparados; barrio Las Tenis, in the León XIII, Tibás, and Los Cuadros, in Goicoechea.
“We are operating all over the country starting from 5 p.m. All the delegations of the Fuerza Publica and the different police forces, including the Coastguard, Border and Air Surveillance Police, with the aim to counteract the wave of criminality in conflictive zones and where there is a high incidence of crime,” said Soto.
Soto added that in the first operation, carried out last Friday, they achieved very good results, so they will continue with the police action according to “operational needs”.
Last week’s operation resulted in the release of two people who had allegedly been kidnapped, found in two vehicles stopped by police in Moin, Limon and Sabannilla de Montes de Oca, in San Jose. The operation also resulted in the seizure of weapons, cars, motorcycles, clandestine liquor and at least ¢4 million colones in cash.
“This (police action) generates a sense of confidence to the citizens. The people who see us on the street are happy and ask us to continue with this type of operations, which is very important. We will continue with other actions based on criminal analysis to generate positive results,” Soto explained.
Among the first results of the Thursday night mega-operation is the seizure of a kilo of marijuana, the arrest of six people, the seizure of five firearms, the recovery of a stolen motorcycle and seizure of vehicles for irregularities with the traffic law.
In La Tenis, at least 50 officers made their way through the narrow passage ways (alamedas) common in the barrios, stopping a number of people to check their identity and for any outstanding warrants.
Ileana Córdoba, a resident of La Tenis indicated that “she was very happy about the police presence and that they should enter the area more often.”
The mega-operation included the use of the Nemesis armored police vehicle which was donated to the Ministry of Security by the Embassy of the United States. In addition, there was personnel from the Unidad Especial de Apoyo (UEA) – tactics = and from the K-9 unit.
The final count of the operation will be released this Friday.
Source (in Spanish): La Nacion
