Agents from the Misappropriation Crimes section of the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ), along with officials from the National Museum, raided a home in Tamarindo Beach and recovered various objects that belong to the archeological record of Costa Rica.

According to a press release issued by the OIJ, the case dates back to November 2014, when field agents were conducting a money laundering investigation in a neighborhood in Tamarindo Beach; one of the agents noticed various artifacts, which she thought should be in a museum, in the patio of a private residence. At that point, the Misappropriation Crimes section was notified and an investigation began into the illegal keeping of archeological items.

The investigation included taking photos of the artifacts and monitoring the activity and whereabouts of the suspected tomb raider. Archeologists from the National Museum examined the evidence and determined a high likelihood of illegal possession of items from the pre-Columbian period of Costa Rica.

The raid took place on Thursday morning. Most of the items confiscated were cooking utensils as well as stone manos and metates (pestles and mortars) used by ancient indigenous tribes to grind corn; one of the metates was decorated with engraved geometric designs. There was also a certificate of provenance among the seized items, which made the work of the National Museum officials even easier.

It is not clear whether the suspect is a collector or is involved in trafficking of archeological artifacts; however, the OIJ agents also found three Amazona barbadensis yellow-shouldered parrots that became very animated during the raid. These three birds are protected wildlife in Costa Rica, and thus they were also seized by the agents and turned over to officials from the Nature Conservation System (Spanish acronym: SINAC) of the Santa Cruz canton in Guanacaste.