The Ministry of Public Security through the Drug Control Police have been conducting investigations with the purpose of protecting the exports systems of the country that are being used for organized crime to send drugs from Costa Rica to European countries such as Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and England among others as well as the United States.

Searches were conducted at two companies today as part of two separate investigations, one located in the center of San Carlos, Alajuela and the other one in Los Angeles, Pital, San Carlos.

One of the companies is Corporación Difari S.A., company dedicated to the export of pineapple to European countries and registered under the name of a Costa Rican man of last names Mora Sequeira, 42 years-old who has a previous record for aggression with a weapon and reckless driving. It seems that this company hid the cocaine in pineapples specially outfitted with waxy, yellow tubes.

The second company is registered as Inversiones Joss S.A. which exports pineapple to the United States, the representative is also a Costa Rican man surnames Salazar Solórzano, age 34, with no criminal record, he was carrying two firearms when he was approached by the police. Inversiones Joss supposedly hid the drugs in the form of very thin sheets inside the cardboard boxes where the pineapple and yuca were carried, two cases were reported in Wilmington Port, Delaware, USA in August this year.

“The Drug Control Police (PCD) began the intelligence work in relation to these groups that presumably operate under this modality (transporting drugs in containers) about a year ago, which led us to the execution of operations such as the one carried out August 22, when an international criminal organization that apparently transported drugs to Europe hidden in platforms carrying pineapples, was dismantled”, explains the press release.

“PCD worked along with police bodies of other countries, in the investigations related to these two companies we had the assistance of the Regional Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the General Commission of the Spanish Judiciary Police. Thanks to these, in both countries groups presumably linked to the containers with drugs were taken down”.