Owners of clandestine airstrips could face up to 15 years in prison

Q COSTA RICA — Costa Rican legislators have moved forward with a bill that would impose prison sentences on people involved in operating clandestine airstrips, as the government seeks to disrupt drug trafficking routes.

The Legislative Assembly’s Security and Narcotics Commission approved the proposal unanimously on Thursday, November 12. Introduced by President Laura Fernández, the bill now heads to a first-debate vote.

The proposed penalty is five to 10 years in prison for people who participate in the activities covered by the bill. A sentence could rise to 15 years for someone who restores or reuses a clandestine airstrip that authorities had previously closed. The proposal would also allow machinery, vehicles, aircraft and other property used to facilitate the operations to be seized and potentially forfeited.

“We have to close off every avenue for drug trafficking and organized crime,” Pueblo Soberano legislator Gonzalo Ramírez said, arguing that the measure would give the state stronger tools to sanction offenders and take away resources used in illegal activity.

Analysis

The bill, which is continuing its legislative journey and has not yet become law, targets more than a landing site. By covering equipment and aircraft as well as potential prison terms, it aims to make a clandestine airstrip harder to put back into service after authorities shut it down. The higher proposed penalty for restoring or reusing a closed strip reinforces that focus.

The commission’s unanimous approval signals support at this stage, but a committee vote is not final legislative approval.

There is no official report on how many clandestine airstrips are in use, how often closed strips reopen, or whether the proposed penalties would reduce trafficking. For now, the concrete development is that legislators have advanced the bill to its next vote.