The Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Monday sanctioned four Costa Rican nationals, as well as two Costa Rica-based entities, for their alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking and money laundering, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
“Drug cartels are poisoning Americans and making our communities more dangerous by trafficking cocaine, often laced with fentanyl, into the United States,” Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said in a written statement.
Costa Rica has become an increasingly significant waypoint for criminal groups trafficking cocaine into the American heartland. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found that cocaine has caused over 22,000 overdose deaths in the one-year period ending in October 2024.
The Treasury coordinated its action with the DEA San José (Costa Rica) Country Office, the DEA Dallas Field Office, and Costa Rica’s Office of the Attorney General.
OFAC’s sanctions build on previous work with the DEA in Costa Rica; in November, OFAC sanctioned Gilbert Hernan de Los Angeles Bell Fernandez (Bell), for his role in making Costa Rica a major narcotics transit hub.
In May, Costa Rica’s president signed a constitutional reform allowing the extradition of Costa Rican nationals accused of drug trafficking and terrorism, which includes two of the individuals that the Treasury targeted on Monday: Celso Manuel Gamboa Sanchez (Gamboa) and Edwin Danney Lopez Vega (Lopez).
In June, Costa Rican law enforcement arrested Gamboa and Lopez. Gamboa is accused of facilitating the trafficking of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine from Colombia through Costa Rica to the United States and Europe.
Gamboa, a former vice minister of public security for Costa Rica, allegedly used his extensive network of contacts to obtain information about counternarcotic investigations, sold the information to the targets of those inquiries, and bribed officials to facilitate the transport of cocaine.
Authorities believe Gamboa laundered his drug proceeds through his companies in Costa Rica, Bufete Celso Gamboa & Asociados (Bufete) as well as Limón Black Star FC (Limón), a Limón, Costa Rica-based soccer club.
Alejandro Antonio James Wilson (James), is a Costa Rican alleged drug trafficker, who is believed to have worked with Gamboa to ship cocaine to the United States and Europe, and exploited corrupt law enforcement and port officials to smuggle cocaine.
Alejandro Arias Monge (Arias) is another purported cocaine trafficker who is on Costa Rica’s most wanted fugitive list in the Limón province. The State Department is offering a reward up to $500,000 for information leading to his arrest. He has been able to avoid arrest thanks to Gamboa’s government contacts.
Lopez is an alleged Costa Rican drug trafficker also based in Limón who is accused of working with Gamboa to launder drug money.
“The sanctions being issued today target key drug smugglers involved in transporting drugs into the United States. Treasury, in close coordination with U.S. law enforcement and our Costa Rican partners, will continue to use all available tools to disrupt narcotrafficking organizations that threaten the safety of
Americans,” Hurley said.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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