Q COSTA RICA — The long arm of United States justice has requested the extradition of three Costa Ricans and one Mexican citizen accused of being part of a criminal organization allegedly linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, dedicated to international cocaine trafficking via clandestine air routes from Costa Rica.
The request was issued by the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin, following an investigation conducted by several police agencies and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The four suspects remain in pretrial detention while the corresponding legal proceedings continue before the Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San José.
The investigation stemmed from an operation carried out on December 10, 2025, near the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. That day, authorities intercepted a Mexican citizen named Takashima and three Costa Ricans with the surnames Carvajal, Rodríguez, and Castillo, who were traveling in three vehicles.
During the operation, police seized approximately 400 kilograms of cocaine, which, according to the investigation, was to be transported by aircraft taking off from a clandestine airstrip with the final destination being the United States.
U.S. authorities attribute apparent crimes of conspiracy and international drug trafficking to the four detainees. In addition, two of the suspects face additional charges related to alleged violations involving the use and possession of firearms.
A Logistics Operation for Clandestine Flights
In addition to the drugs, authorities confiscated a series of items that would demonstrate the infrastructure used by the organization to facilitate illegal flights.
Among the seized items were portable lamps that, according to authorities, would have been used to illuminate clandestine airstrips during nighttime operations, communication radios, airplane tires, containers of aircraft fuel, firearms, ammunition, and cash in both colones and dollars.
For investigators, these findings strengthen the hypothesis that the organization had a pre-planned logistical operation to move cocaine shipments to the United States using aircraft operating outside official controls.
The investigation also linked the group to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the Americas, identified by U.S. authorities as operating international networks for shipping cocaine, methamphetamines, and other drugs.
Costa Rica as a strategic drug trafficking hub
The case once again highlights Costa Rica’s role as a transit point for international criminal organizations seeking to leverage its geographic location to ship drugs to North America.
In recent years, Costa Rican authorities have detected an increase in the use of clandestine airstrips, boats, and shipping containers as mechanisms for smuggling cocaine to international markets, especially the United States and Europe.
A case connected to another investigation
Authorities indicated that this case is related to another investigation conducted by the Drug Control Police in April 2025.
On that occasion, officers intercepted a yacht near the Quepos Marina in Puntarenas, where three Mexican citizens were arrested while transporting approximately 840 kilograms of cocaine.
As with the Liberia case, the three foreigners were also subsequently sought by U.S. authorities through extradition requests for crimes related to international drug trafficking.
Authorities consider both cases to be part of the joint effort between Costa Rica and the United States to dismantle international networks that use Costa Rican territory as a platform for cocaine trafficking to North America.
While the legal proceedings continue, the four suspects will remain in pretrial detention pending a decision by Costa Rican courts on the extradition request filed by the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin.