VZCZCXYZ0012
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #1691/01 2542055
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 112055Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8849
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEABND/DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN HQ WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM J1 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHEHOND/DIR ONDCP WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN JOSE 001691 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN AND INL/LP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2017 
TAGS: PINR PREL PTER SNAR XK CS
SUBJECT: US-COSTA RICA PARTNERSHIP AGAINST NARCOTRAFFICKERS 
BRINGS RESULTS; HIGHLIGHTS NEEDS (CORRECTED COPY) 
 
REF: SAN JOSE 01682 
 
Classified By: DCM Peter Brennan per 1.5 (d) 
 
¶1. This is a corrected version of San Jose 01682.  See 
paragraphs 2, 3 and 12 
 
 ¶2. (C) SUMMARY:   Close bilateral cooperation and improved 
intra-GOCR coordination yielded impressive counter narcotics 
successes since early July.  Joint USG-GOCR efforts 
intercepted four go-fast boats and forced a fifth to turn 
back towards Panama.  Ashore, a probable fuel depot for 
go-fasts and two cocaine caches were discovered.  During this 
fiscal year, the GOCR has tallied over 28 MT of narcotics 
seized, plus USD 8.5 million in cash.  While these operatios 
have underscored the continued willingness of he Costa Rican 
air unit, coast guard and their sveral police organizations 
to &get out there8 aganst traffickers, to target the 
command and contrl structure of drug trafficking 
organizations, tey have also highlighted serious 
deficiencies incoast guard equipment and readiness.  New 
coast uard commander Martin Arias may help, but his past 
record is not spotless.  END SUMMARY. 
 
RIDE-ALOG PROGRAM PROVES EFFECTIVE 
================================== 
 
¶3. (SBU) The recent GOCR successe can be attributed to three 
factors: 1) the bilateral ride-along program, hich places 
Costa Rica Coast Guard (CRCG) personel aboard US vessels to 
accompany USCG law enforement teams; 2) better Costa Rican 
surveillance pactices; and 3) better communication among the 
mltiple law enforcement agencies involved.  The comination 
has led to earlier detection of vessels uspected of drug 
smuggling (go-fast boats), the apture of their crews, and 
the seizure of a substntial amount of drugs.  So far this 
fiscal year,over twenty-eight metric tons of cocaine have 
ben seized by Costa Ricans, or in joint GOCR-USG actons. 
 
HOT PURSUITS NET DRUG LADEN GO-FAST BOATS 
========================================== 
 
¶4. (SBU) On July 9, the USCG and CRCG combined forces t 
pursue and intercept two go fast boats which ha been 
detected earlier by a US aircraft.  One bot and its contents 
were torched by its crew, andit sank with an estimated one 
metric ton of cocaine off Puntarenas, on the Pacific coast. 
The thre-member Colombian crew was plucked from the water y 
a USCG helicopter and subsequently handed overto GOCR Public 
Security officers.  The three wer held for deportation on 
immigration violations as the depth of the water prevented 
the recovery o any evidence for prosecution purposes. The 
second boat was abandoned at the beach and its crew fled on 
foot.  Public Security forces secured the boat and its 
illegal cargo (970 kilograms of cocaine) and through 
subsequent investigation managed to locate two suspected crew 
members, now accused of drug trafficking. 
 
¶5. (SBU) On July 20, the USCG located a third go-fast boat 
off the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica.  Upon noticing 
they have been detected, the crew turned the boat around and 
fled toward Panama, where USCG lost contact with the vessel. 
On July 23, a fourth go-fast was apprehended with a three-man 
crew, all Colombians, who were arrested. Their boat contained 
one ton of cocaine and was suspected to have been en route to 
unload its cargo somewhere in the region, most likely 
Guatemala, by utilizing re-fueling depots along the Costa 
Rican and Nicaraguan coasts. 
 
¶6. (SBU) On August 26, a helicopter from the frigate USS 
Halyburton, located a fifth go-fast along the Northern 
Pacific coast, near Playa Flamingo in Guanacaste.  When the 
boat crew realized they had been spotted, they started to 
jettison their cargo of approximately 135 bales of cocaine, 
then turned toward shore.  Once on the beach, the crew burned 
the boat and fled on foot.  This has become standard practice 
for many go-fast crews facing capture in Costa Rican waters. 
CRGC and police personnel eventually located and arrested the 
escaped traffickers -- five Colombians now in preventive 
detention pending charges. A CRCG boat also proceeded to the 
area where the narcotics had been thrown overboard, in an 
effort to recover the cargo. 
 
SEARCH AND SEIZURE ALMOST BECOMES SEARCH AND RESCUE 
============================================= 
 
¶7. (SBU) The CRCG search for the floating drugs almost became 
 
a search and rescue.  Lacking appropriate communications and 
navigation equipment, the Costa Rican launch was soon off 
course and out of touch.  The U.S. aircraft which had helped 
hunt down the go-fast had to return to the vicinity to find 
the lost CRCG vessel.  After a three-hour search, the boat 
was found and guided safely home, but the story could have 
easily had a not-so-happy ending, all for the lack of 
equipment as basic as a marine radio and a GPS unit.  The 
CRCG vessel was able to recover six bales of cocaine with a 
total weight of 120 kilos.  Subsequent search of the area by 
the Halyburton recovered an additional 26 bales, bringing the 
total seizure to 640 kilos. 
 
INCREASED OPTEMPO HIGHLIGHTS NEEDS 
================================== 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The August 26-27 go-fast operation highlighted the 
limitations and poor state of the CRCG.  The few vessels they 
have are often inoperative due to poor maintenance, lack of 
funding for spare parts and fuel, and other budgetary 
constraints.  Of six ex-USCG patrol boats in the inventory, 
only two are operable at the moment.  Smaller launches, like 
the wayward vessel described above, not only lack basic 
communication and navigation equipment, but also basic 
rescue/emergency equipment (e.g., emergency flare guns, 
survival rations, etc.)  Despite these limitations, CRCG 
crews do their best with what they have and spare no efforts 
to conduct patrols.  They will not be able to do so much 
longer, however, without proper equipment and maintenance. 
 
NEW LEADERSHIP MAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE 
==================================== 
 
¶9. (C) Long aware that the CRCG lacked strong operational 
leadership, and in light of the coast guard problems revealed 
in August, Minister of Public Security Berrocal named Martin 
Arias as Coast Guard Commander on August 30. Arias is a 
career CRCG officer recognized for his experience in maritime 
operations. This is a needed contrast to his predecessor, 
Carlos Alvarado, a maritime lawyer.  However, Arias,s record 
is not perfect. Confirmed GOCR intelligence and OIJ reports 
indicate that he probably diverted fuel and spare parts for 
resale during his tenure as commander of the CRCG base in 
Puntarenas.  This &open secret8 within the coast guard was 
not enough to prevent Berrocal from naming Arias (or from 
charging him with any crime), but it may limit the latter,s 
ability to run the CRCG in a transparent, efficient manner. 
 
OTHER INVESTIGATIONS, OTHER SEIZURES 
==================================== 
 
¶10. (SBU) The weekend of August 4, in an investigation based 
on intelligence information, officers of the Public Security 
forces discovered an encampment in Playa Matapalo, 
Puntarenas, in the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica.  The 
encampment was evidently used as a fuel depot where go-fast 
boats could stop on their way north, enabling them to carry a 
heavier payload.  Forty-nine 50-gallon drums were located, 
twenty-five of them still filled with fuel.  As part of the 
same investigation, Public Security forces raided a house in 
the same region on August 7, where two metric tons of cocaine 
were discovered.  Three Colombian citizens were arrested and 
the investigation continues. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In one more case, investigations by the Judicial 
Police (OIJ) resulted in the seizure of a trailer that 
contained 1,200 kilos of cocaine in the area of Goicoechea in 
the Central Valley September 1.  This investigation started 
five months ago. Five more Colombians were arrested. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Close cooperation between US agencies and GOCR law 
enforcement agencies has been key to these anti-narcotics 
successes, but so also improved GOCR inter-agency cooperation 
and heightened security force vigilance, not only against 
drug trafficking, but also money laundering. This fiscal year 
alone the GOCR has seized eight and a half million USD in 
cash; the most significant seizure occurred on July 20 when 
OIJ agents found USD 2.4 million in cash stashed in two 
suitcases in a tractor-trailer entering from Nicaragua.  On 
July 22, another USD 75,000 was found, again at the 
Nicaragua-Costa Rica border, hidden in the cab lining of a 
semi tractor. 
 
COMMENT 
======= 
 
¶13. (C) Although we could not block Arias,s selection to run 
 
the CRCG, we will lay down a marker with Berrocal that his 
new commander bears close watching.  With the CRCG as one of 
the centerpieces of the GOCR,s recent CN success, and with 
assistance to the CRCG factored into our FY2008 and FY2009 
planning, Berrocal cannot afford to have the wrong man in 
charge.  Meanwhile, the GOCR,s overall CN successes 
highlight the continued importance of our Bilateral Maritime 
Agreement, and the benefits of close international and 
inter-agency cooperation, at sea or ashore.  We will continue 
to encourage the Costa Ricans to play to those strengths. 
LANGDALE