By Wendy Anders

Cocaine might be harder to come by these days in Guanacaste, especially from your local seller.

Liberia, capital of the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, was the scene of a large drug bust this morning when Drug Control Police (PCD in Spanish) captured three ring leaders and several underlings in twelve different houses for a total of 10 arrests.

This local drug group handled medium-scale cocaine sales of about two to three kilograms per week throughout Liberia, Bagaces, and Cañas, said Ministry of Public Security officials this afternoon.

In an investigation underway since March 2015, Costa Rican anti-drug police in the Liberia, Guanacaste area discovered that the band operated 24 hours a day and used an express or door-to-door service in which they would arrive at people’s homes with drugs in what appeared to be a private or pirate taxi service, according to a press statement published today.

This door-to-door service was led by a man by the last name Cabrera who trafficked cocaine out of his home in downtown Liberia. Anti-drug police discovered that Cabrera was supplied by two other larger groups, one called “Los Verdura” or “The Vegetables” led by two brothers by the last name of Meza, and another group led by a Nicaraguan national named Rizo.

Also taken into custody was Police Officer Bustos, a 47-year-old Liberia official with 27 years of police service; and Ministry of Health Officer Contreras who apparently informed the criminal bands as to the whereabouts of police operations. Bustos allegedly was used by the band to locate people who were in the red and tried to escape payment.

Further information on the number of arrests and amount of cocaine seized is forthcoming.

In a separate drug seizure Sunday afternoon, the Judicial Investigative Organisation (OIJ in Spanish) followed a confidential tip that led to the discovery of 150 kilos of cocaine in a sugar cane field in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste packed in five bags, along with four large plastic containers of fuel and a large fuel pump.