Addressing a suspected connection between the disappearance of Second Vice-President Kevin Casas’ brother Ciro Casas and the arrest of alleged drug trafficker George Nayor, the Vice-President yesterday denied that he personally has any connection to Nayor.

Casas’ brother Ciro Casas, a lawyer, went missing nine days ago while traveling home from Spain, shortly after Nayor, a Cuban-American of Lebanese origin, was arrested in El Salvador and deported to the United States. Nayor is in prison in Miami and is being investigated by international authorities for an alleged connection to the Colombian drug-trafficking organization Cuartel de Medellín and for allegedly attempting to kill Salvadoran President Antonio Saca.

“I hope this isn’t made into a political scandal because it is clear that neither I nor the government have anything to do with the case,” Casas said, explaining that the only time he has seen Nayor was last August during a birthday party for his brother given by “a close friend from El Salvador.”

The Vice-President explained that he maintained a “distant and sporadic” relationship with his brother.

Worried over the strange coincidence between his brother’s disappearance and Nayor’s arrest, Casas said he discussed the matter with President Oscar Arias and Chief Prosecutor Francisco Dall’Anese, who is looking into the matter.

Immigration records show Nayor has entered and left Costa Rica 10 times since June 2005 using a fake passport with the name Julio Mayorga Ramos, from Honduras. He is also suspected to have more than $15 million in Costa Rican bank accounts. 

-ACAN-EFE