Agents from the Organization of Judicial Investigations of Costa Rica (Spanish initials: OIJ) have taken two persons into custody for their alleged participation in a narcotics distribution and retail scheme that catered to foreign visitors and expatriate residents in Guanacaste and Puntarenas. When the suspects were arrested in Liberia, they were found in possession of cocaine byproducts as well as United States and Canadian dollars.

According to online news site CRHoy.com, one of the suspects arrested in Liberia is a 42-year old Colombian man. The OIJ agents also arrested a 30-year old Costa Rican man who had an outstanding warrant for illegal possession of weapons and a criminal record that included one charge of attempted sexual assault.

The men had been monitored by the OIJ for some time before being intercepted and taken into custody near the Ascension Esquivel elementary school in Liberia. At the same time this operation was taking place, OIJ agents in Puntarenas were given the green light to raid a home where a couple was suspected of dealing crack cocaine.

The suspects in Liberia had 60 small bags of cocaine hydrochloride in powder form as well as 310 rocks of crack cocaine. The couple in Puntarenas, who lived near the Jehova’s Witness Temple, were hiding 38 retail amounts of crack.

With regard to the arrest in Liberia, Fiorella Valle of online news site Primero en Noticias commented that further investigations into drug rings that cater to tourists and expats in the beach communities of Guanacaste will continue, particularly in towns such as Playas del Coco and Tamarindo Beach, where a vibrant nightlife colludes with a carefree attitude towards drug use.

As recently reported by the Costa Rica Star, this aspect of life in certain communities in Costa Rica is bolstering the country’s status as potentially becoming the Ibiza of Latin America.