The Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (Costa Rica’s immigration service) reports that a mob attacked immigration police officers in the area of Los Chiles, near the Las Tablilas crossing point between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
The director of immigration Freddy Montero, said the attack from a group of men occurred around noon. Montero said the officers were in Los Chiles as part of the increased border controls for Semana Santa.
According to reports, the six immigraton police officers were patrolling the area when they observed a car with several people inside and decided to intercept and search. The report said the group of men in the vehicle got out quickly and fled before the officers could detain them.
The officers were able to detain the man and arrange for him to be transferred to the nearest prosecutor’s office (Fiscalia), when a group of about 25 men began pelting the officers with rocks and beating them with sticks, in an attempt to free the man.
The official report says that one of the officers opened fire during the incident, impacting one of the men in mob in the leg, and had to be treated by paramedics.
During the brawl with the mob several officers suffered blows to the head, back and arms.
