The Ministry of Public Security confirmed that 11 a.m. Saturday, while monitoring highways around Ciudad Colón, a town west of San José, officers found a large bag of synthetic drugs abandoned along the road, said Juan José Andrade, director of the national police force.

They assume that whoever had been transporting the synthetic marijuana, called K2, threw it out to avoid being detected by police. Some local residents tipped off police as to the presence of the bag.

The police seizure of the 1,347 doses of K2 will save “the lives of hundreds of Costa Rican youth, because the effects of this chemical cause severe health problems, including the death of those who consume it,” said the ministry. Last week eight Costa Rican young men were hospitalized after apparently overdosing on K2 at a bar in the eastern San José district of San Pedro.

Andrade said this is the largest seizure of K2 since the drug entered into Costa Rica a few years ago, and also the largest capture of K2 in Central America.

The drug cargo is valued at more than eight million colones (about US$14,500), said police, and is certainly a blow to local drug-trafficking networks, continued Andrade.

Andrade encouraged people to aid police in routing out drug dealers by reporting suspicious behavior, and said the police are working 24 hours a day to control illegal drugs and “promote the health and safety of our youth and general population.”