by Rod Hughes
A plot by 10 Colombians and two Costa Ricans to assassinate Minister of Public Security Fernando Berrocal and Presidential Minister Rodrigo Arias has been uncovered, police say. Five of the Colombians were deported Saturday morning since all the foreigners were undocumented.
Police say the Colombians were hit men hired by the little known Cartel Valle del Norte (Northern Valley Cartel) which paid the assassins $50,000 each as a down payment, $150,000 in total. The cartel, based in Choco, Colombia, allegedly wanted the two ministers dead to take vengence on this country for the 40 tons of cocaine police have intercepted in the past 12 months. (See previous article on this newsfeed.)
It is unclear what the Cartel had in mind other than a terrorist-style intimidation, but its hierarchy evidently does not know Costa Ricans well enough to understand how contra-productive that would be. Minister Arias is the closest advisor and the brother of President Oscar Arias and Minister Berrocal is a widely admired public figure. Their deaths would be more likely to make this country more vigilant and most Ticos are not afraid of their police, unlike in some other Latin American nations. Even during the turbulent 1980s in Central America, several terrorist plots were foiled due to information of suspicious activity provided by regular citizens
“The plot was iminent,” Viceminister of Security Rafael Gutierrez told the daily paper La Nacion and noted that during the 12-month period, 52 Colombians were arrested.
The hit men were arrested in Alajuela, Esparza and had been given hospitality in a home in Puntarenas. The two detained Costa Ricans were employed to assist the assassins.
The daily paper Al Dia reported that the five deported men were released by Colombian authorities due to thair lack of a police record in that country and the lack of legal papers from Costa Rica requesting their detainment. Unofficially, authorities here were disappointed but Berrocal limited himself to only saying that he would ask Colombia to explain the release.
La Nacion’s sources say that disagreements between the assassins and the cartel about payment delayed execution of the plot and caused a relative of one of the cartel chiefs to fly back to Colombia to settle accounts–thus escaping the local police dragnet.
Police became aware of the plot several weeks ago, La Nacion sources revealed, and instituted wire tapping procedures legal in narcotics traffic cases. One of the Costa Ricans arrested owns a farm in the northern zone of the country, the newspaper added. Immigration authorities were also active during the police probe, scanning the papers of more than 100 Colombians in the country.
Gutierrez also confirmed a suspected link between the hit men and Hector Orlando Martinez, former member of the FARC terrorist organization long linked with drug activities in Colombia. Martinez was extradited by this country to Colombia Dec. 21, 2006, on suspicion in the deaths of 119 persons in the village of Bojaya, Colombia, in 2002. The village is in Choco province.
The vice minister also added that detectives are sifting through unsolved killings where hit men were employed in order to see if the five deported men were involved during their time here.
Costa Rica is a “bridge” in the transport of narcotics to the big U.S. markets. The Coast Guard, although underequipped and stretched thin, has been instrumental in many recent captures on both coasts and the police must watch two very porous borders north and south.