Costa Rica’s president-elect says she will launch crackdown on drug trafficking gangs

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Costa Rican president-elect to fight drug cartels

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rican President-elect Laura Chinchilla says fighting drug trafficking will be one of her government’s priorities.

Chinchilla said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that she wants to cooperate in anti-drug investigations with Mexico and Colombia.

Due to take office May 8, she recently named an anti-drug commissioner to focus on improving police intelligence and coordination among government agencies to identify Mexican drug traffickers entering this Central American nation.

“Costa Rica can help countries like Colombia and Mexico with the exchange of information that can allow them to be more efficient in this war they are fighting,” Chinchilla said. “What’s important is to close all roads to drug traffickers.”

She provided no other details on her plan.

Costa Rican officials say powerful Mexican drug cartels are increasingly using Costa Rica as a transshipment point for cocaine heading north from Colombia.

Last month, Costa Rican police seized more than a ton of cocaine at a house in a rural area outside the capital and detained two Mexican men allegedly working for the Juarez cartel.

“Those people have to know that (fighting them) is one of our priorities and that we’re putting honest and courageous people at the front of that fight,” Chinchilla said. “Sooner or later they will have to look for other places because here we will permanently harass them.”

Chinchilla met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month and asked for more financial support to fight drug trafficking.

She said Costa Rica got $4.3 million last year as part of the Merida Initiative. The initiative provides resources to Mexico, Central America countries and the Dominican Republic and Haiti in the Caribbean to fight the drug war.

“What we want is to open a dialogue to review the areas that need to be strengthened in the fight against drug trafficking in Costa Rica,” she said.