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Weekly Report - 02 July 2026 (WR-26-26)

COSTA RICA: Authorities hail another major anti-drug operation

Last week the interim director of Costa Rica’s judicial investigation agency (OIJ), Michael Soto, announced that the authorities had carried out an anti-drug and money laundering operation ‘Riverside’, which he described as the most significant operation conducted by the OIJ in coordination with the attorney general’s office (MP) and other authorities, in the country’s history. The operation was in line with an investigation into a criminal organisation formerly led by Edwin López Vega, alias ‘Pecho de Rata’, an associate of former security minister (2014-2018) and supreme court justice (2016-2018) Celso Gamboa, both of whom were extradited to the US earlier this year over drug charges. It follows another major anti-narcotics operation carried out last year known as ‘Traición’. This all comes just over a week after the new conservative government led by President Laura Fernández unveiled a package of measures to address insecurity [WR-26-24] – a major public concern as homicides have soared in recent years due to the presence of international narcotrafficking organisations in the country.

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