by Rod Hughes

Heredia police headquarters is cleaning house. Eleven policemen accused of being leagued with narcotics traffickers have been arrested and placed in preventative detention, reported the daily La Nacion. The charges range from criminal conspiracy and actual drug sales to protecting narcotics criminals from capture by the police.

The arrests are the culmination of six months investigation stemming from a confidential report of such illicit activity as forging bogus legal documents. Jorge Rojas, director of the Judicial Investigation organization, told the paper that in at least 10 occasions Heredia police had raided narcotics dens and confiscated drugs but had filed no reports on the raids.

In some cases, police confiscated crack and marijuana from one traffickers only to sell it to another. Moreover, their illicit activities seemed to take time away from legitimate law enforcement. Between January and May, Heredia, normally a quiet university town, suffered 375 car thefts and 1,500 assaults on businesses and pedestrians. Clearly, the criminals were on the point of taking over the town.