Security ministry officials have spent two months targeting local and international drug activities. Now they want to get more Fuerza Pública officers on the streets.

At the same time, the ministry will tackle internal corruption with the creation of an office of inspector general and crack down on visa fraud in the immigration agency, according to Fernando Berrocal Soto, the minister.

Berrocal said that in the two months since he has taken over, the Policia de Control de Drogas have carried out 57 operations, 34 targeting local activities like crack sales and 23 involving international trafficking, such as intercepting couriers at Juan Santamaría airport.

The Fuerza Pública and the anti-drug police, as well as immigration agents have conducted sweeps in likely spots for illegal residents and fugitives. The ministry agencies were joined in most of these efforts by agents of the Judicial Investigating Organization, which is an arm of the courts, and municipal police.

Berrocal said that he would soon announce the makeup of the inspector general’s office. He said Tuesday that an accountant and a lawyer would be among those named, perhaps later this week.

“Nothing is more demoralizing than cases of corruption in the Fuerza Pública, said the minister. He speaks with experience. May 27, shortly after he took over, 15 M-16 military rifles and two handguns were stolen from the  Fuerza Pública delegación in Guácimo. Investigators later arrested a policeman.

Then June 26, Berrocal outlined allegations that two Fuerza Públicas officers and an ex-officer helped set up the murder of three small-time drug dealers. He said at the same time another officer was suspected of working with a Colombian gang.

Then La Nación, the Spanish language daily newspaper, disclosed that a fleet of patrol cars of Romanian manufacture are no longer in service because repair parts are not available.

Fuerza Pública officers and immigration employees used the vehicles. Some claim the vehicles were unfit for service when they arrived, purchased in 2002 from a local dealer.Berrocal also disclosed that some smaller police stations that were supposed to be constructed in rural areas had not been built but the ministry had paid for them anyway. This case is under investigation, too.

The minister said that more police will be seen on the street because he is chasing them out from behind desks. In addition, some 350 policemen who now work inside the ministry will be given street assignments, he said.

Berrocal recounted a recent motor trip he took with Rafael Angel Gutiérrez Gómez, vice minister of Seguridad Pública, from San Pedro to Escazú. He said he saw no policemen on the streets and immediately called the San José regional commander to order more officers to the beats. Some expats who frequent the San José downtown in the early evening report an increased presence of police.

Ana Eugenia Durán Salvatierra, vice minister of Gobernación, said that plans to crack down on visa fraud will not have an effect on North Americans or Europeans. Berrocal promised an announcement Thursday or Friday in conjunction with the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto to drastically change the way so-called “restricted” visas are handled. These are visas for persons in about 134 countries, such as Cuba and the People’s Republic of China, who do not have free and easy access to Costa Rica.

The country has weathered a series of disclosures of fake marriages and other tricks that foreigners from such countries have used to gain residency here.

The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores issues the visas at the nation’s many overseas consulates. And the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería processes the visa once the person arrives in Costa Rica. Ms. Durán supervises the immigration department within the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública.

Berrocal also said that his ministry was seeking alliances with the major security companies and companies that deliver their products in Costa Rica. There are some 19,000 private guards, about twice the number of Fuerza Pública officers. Berrocal said that the ministry wants to set up common emergency radio frequencies and share intelligence to avoid confusion when crimes happen. Distribution trucks, like those delivering beer and soda, are prime targets for bandits.