Q COSTARICA — With the arrest of 47-year-old Francisco Javier Alfaro Flores, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ)—Judicial Investigation Agency—concluded a nearly decade-long investigation into an alleged money laundering network linked to drug trafficking in Costa Rica.
The network operated through a chain of gyms, the purchase of luxury properties, the acquisition of exclusive vehicles, and a partnership in a recycling company.
The OIJ has dubbed the case “Lusso,” the Italian word for luxury.
Michael Soto, director of the OIJ, reported that at least 17 raids were carried out starting at 4:00 a.m. on Monday, May 18, on properties located in Alajuela, Pérez Zeledón, Escazú, and Heredia, Costa Rica. He explained that the Specialized Office Against Organized Crime (OECD) is investigating the Lusso case for the alleged crime of money laundering.
The case is linked to a drug plane found abandoned in 2016 in western Nicaragua, which allegedly departed from Costa Rica. According to Soto, the investigation never stopped and maintains ties to drug trafficking structures identified in the cases known as Torero and Manantiales.
A Drug Plane
According to LA PRENSA (leading newspaper in Nicaragua) archives, around 8:30 a.m. on January 13, 2016, the Nicaraguan National Police located a white plane with Costa Rican registration TI-ATR in the Los Lirios sector of Puerto Morazán, in the municipality of Chinandega. Inside, they found 89.442 kilograms of cocaine, distributed in three suitcases.
The aircraft had taken off from Tobías Bolaños Airport in Pavas, Costa Rica, with a declared destination of Punta Islita and Tamarindo, also in Costa Rica. However, it crashed in Nicaraguan territory. The pilot and co-pilot, identified as Daniel Campos Barrantes, 36, and Jorge Enrique Arias Vargas, 32, were located two days later in Costa Rica.
Records from that year in LA PRENSA indicate that both men were found bound on the San José-Guápiles highway and claimed to have been kidnapped. According to La Nación, on January 15, authorities responded to a report of a possible rollover in the area, but the discovery turned out to be even more unusual.
They were the pilot and co-pilot of the drug plane that had crashed in Nicaragua. Both stated that several men with a “Colombian accent” stole the aircraft from them in Guanacaste, where it had allegedly been loaded with drugs.
The cocaine was incinerated on January 14, 2016, on a property belonging to the León Judicial Complex.
More drugs found
At that time, the men said they had not eaten for two days and were taken to a hospital in Heredia. Ten days after the discovery of the plane in Chinandega, the Nicaraguan Police reported that more drugs had been found. It is presumed that this new shipment was found at the same location where the small plane crashed. It consisted of five more bricks of cocaine, weighing a total of 5,290 grams.
Rumors circulated that two of the bricks were found buried in the Cuatro Esquinas de Amayo community, located south of the sugarcane field where the aircraft crashed, but the police never confirmed this.
This episode, which remained unresolved at the time, was reopened by Costa Rican authorities.
“According to our preliminary investigation, this network is linked to the Manantiales case and the Torero case: those cases involved drug trafficking, and we could summarize that this one stems from that same line of inquiry,” stated the director of the OIJ, referring to the Lusso case file.
Costa Rica’s Attorney General Carlo Díaz explained that this is “an investigation by the Money Laundering Prosecutor’s Office, which is following up on two previous international drug trafficking cases.” The only difference is that now they are “focused on money laundering.”
A mansion valued at US$3 million
Francisco Javier Alfaro Flores, a Nicaraguan who is a naturalized Costa Rican, is the alleged ringleader of a money laundering operation. He and seven other suspects were arrested on Monday, including two women, one of whom shares the surname Alfaro.
It is presumed that she is related to him, as Soto explained that the network also included members of his family.
Ten high-end vehicles were seized during the raids, some considered exclusive in the country, all with an approximate value of US$2.7 million. Among them was a US$400,000 Lamborghini, of which only four exist in the country. In addition, cash and an AR-15 rifle were confiscated.
Alfaro Flores managed to acquire numerous properties and assets throughout the country. The network allegedly operated a chain of gyms, from which nearly 400 machines and weights were seized. It also owned luxury properties, including a mansion valued at up to US$3 million dollars, complete with a private cinema, gym, jacuzzi, and swimming pool.
He is also linked to a recycling company and listed as a shareholder in several companies, including Inversiones y Desarrollos Aguilar Ellis S.A., and Importadora de Motos RJ Alajuela S.A., among others.
Regarding the case, the director of the OIJ added that the raids were continuing as part of the money laundering investigation and that further details about the operations carried out in conjunction with the OECD would be provided.