By Wendy Anders

In today’s early morning hours off Cabo Blanco at the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, the Costa Rican Coast Guard reported the seizure of nearly 2,300 kilos of cocaine.

This latest illegal drug capture makes for nearly 10 tons of cocaine seized by police since January, according to office police sources.

Twelve ships transporting illegal drugs from Jamaica and Colombia have been captured over the course of this year, said Public Security Minister Gustavo Mata; eight had cocaine, and four had marijuana.

Three Nicaraguans and one Costa Rica were manning the fishing boat “Costa del Sol Z” (Sunny Coast Z) where the 164 packs of cocaine were neatly stashed. The three Nicaraguan men (Ponce – who was the boat captain, Arias and López) were accompanied by a Costa Rican man named Fallas.

The public prosecutor’s office in Puntarenas interviewed the men, none of whom have criminal records, and who may now face up to 20 years in jail.

This follows Tuesday’s large bust when coast guard and police officers detained the fishing boat “Los Dos Colochos” (The Two Curls) with over one ton of marijuana off the Caribbean coast near Limón.

Tuesday’s capture also involved a Tico-Nica drug smuggling partnership. Two Nicaraguan men (last names Castillo and Bryce) and one Costa Rican (last name Gómez) man, all from Limón, were arrested in the bust.