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It seems that the latest place to experience robbers with guns is Quepos. AM Costa Rica reports a honeymoon couple that were beaten and robbed inside their villa. Last night a freind of mine attended to a tourist that was robbed at gunpoint on the road near the beach. He was walking on the road at 11pm as a car drove by, two men jumped out and held a gun to his head and took all his ID and cash/credit cards. The car returned and picked the two up and drove off.
That would be bad enough, but the shaken tourist walked to the nearest hotel and had the security guard call the Fuersa. They told him to report it to the OIJ in the morning. Further questions about their disinterest revealed that they had three cars and only one was running due to lack of money for repair.
As the country drifts into lawlessness, what will it take for the citizens to become outraged and demand a real police force?
Maybe if we all pretend it isn’t happening, it will all go away. I guess it’s not really my problem. It didn’t happen to me. (YET!)Alberto
These are, to be sure, unfortunate incidents — moreso for the victims. But they hardly fortell a trend, a downward spiral toward total lawlessness. It is unquestionably true that Costa Rica has a crime problem, and it may be true that it’s getting worse. Or maybe it’s just the reporting?
Given a choice, however, I would certainly rather take my chances walking down a roadside in Quepos than a city street in most American urban areas. Fact is, I’d avoid both equally.
As american expats brag about how little they are paying in property taxes, some of them and some tourists are being treated to one of the consequences……no money for a decent police force. I have heard some Ticos lay blame at the feet of corrupt politicians stealing resources which would otherwise have been applied to improving law enforcement. I don;t know enough about the situation in Costa Rica to have an informed opinion. But common sense goes a long way sometimes in seeing causes for problems. It is stupid to expect to see an american style police force, complete with cars, modern communications and weapons, and still get the benefit of low taxes. Who is going to pay for this?
Once again, if you are not happy with what you see in Costa Rica and expect a change, you may be guilty of naivet’e in the extreme. You don’t get paradise for free anywhere.Edited on Jul 22, 2007 06:36
Edited on Jul 22, 2007 06:37
“As the country drifts into lawlessness…” would seem to be somewhat dramatic and ridiculously overblown don’t you think?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comAfter so much corruption from former Presidents can you blame Tico’s for pointing the finger at their politicians? Look at the track record right back to around 1982; it doesn’t make impressive reading.
Using the roads situation as a comparison it becomes clear that funding may not be the issue. The road tax is expensive by any measure; a large engine car will run you around $1,400 a year which seems like a lot. If we multiply the average of say $500 per car by the number of cars here (guesstimate of 1m) this is half a billion dollars! No doubt someone will have some more accurate figures however lack of funds raised may not be the problem and I have my doubts it is the problem with the police.
A year ago my house was broken into; I asked the police to request the video tape from the local mall which would have shown the vehicle used in the crime as it exited the scene; they didn’t exactly refuse but they didn’t do it either. We could debate why, perhaps it’s the pay causing lack of motivation but the fact is the money is being raised but you wouldnt know it. Anyone have any figures on tax receipts?
I remember watching an accident, car hits motorcyle and throwing the bikist several yards. The local police drove by, checked to see if the vicitm was somewhat ok from their window and drove off. I asked my brother in law , what the heck was that ? He said , that is the job of the trafico ( traffic police ) not theirs. Since they get paid almost nothing , they will not do anything extra. I imagine for them to see, in their eyes , someone who makes 100 times their pay, the “rich gringo ” can afford the loss.
scott
i would say thats a pretty good response.. unless i was promoting costa rica lol
i do not know how long you have lived here but i have been here for many years and yes i do see an increase in crime especially violent crime with guns. am i comparing this to other countries NO.. just that i would agree with the above quote. i believe as cafta becomes more of a reality the gap between the rich and poor will increase as well as crime… unless new laws are set up. there seems to be no justice here.. so one has to rely on oneself.
harlon
so sprite
what your saying then.. if everyone paid there fare of taxes here this would not happen hahahah.. thank you.. you made my morning
it is comments like these that really make my day. the point of being able to leverage your tax situation here is what makes this thing at least worthwhile.. in my opinion..
harlon
ps. like i always say.. I love costa rica and love living here but I am also a pragmatic person and deal with things as they are NOT as I would like them to be. for that I could have stayed in the Good ole U.S.of A.
I just posted an article that clearly shows CRIME IS DOWN in Costa Rica….
I can not seem to paste in the chart that is in the article but you can see it at http://www.amcostarica.com/072007.htm#31 and clearly shows robberies and thefts for June 2007 bare MUCH LOWER than any month this year.
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June statistics show a decrease in San José robberies
By the A.M. Costa Rica staffAlthough a clear trend may not be evident, crime statistics show a reduction in June over other months of 2007. That included both robberies of individuals and burglaries and thefts.
Law enforcement officials have been conducting sweeps in San José and adjacent areas to pick up known criminals. They also have been targeting the international shipment of drugs from Colombia which results in an influx of cocaine to Costa Rice.
The drug effort has been so successful that officials claim that hitmen had been sent to Costa Rica to kill to government officials.
As the cocaine passes through Costa Rica, either on the water or overland, locals who help usually are paid off in cocaine that then enters the local market.
Statistics from the Judicial Investigation Organization show a decrease of 78 robberies of persons in the Provincia de San José from May to June. In May 297 robberies were reported. In June there were 219 cases.
In just the central canton of San José itself during the same period, there was a reduction of 58 reports: from 173 in May to 115 in June.
Thefts from persons and home burglaries also were the lowest in June of all the months of 2007.
Thefts include those done by stealth, such as pickpocketing, those committed because the victim was inattentive to his or her property and also thefts committed with trickery.
Many victims in Costa Rica do not report crimes to the police, in part because they do not expect any action. So the statistics are suspect when trying to measure the amount of criminal acts. But crime reports at least show general trends.
During the first six months of the year, there were 2,382 reports of what investigators call asaltos in the Provincia de San José and 1,291 in the central canton, which can be considered the city of San José. There also were 1,468 reports of thefts, burglaries and con games during the same period.
The statistics come from the Unidad de Análisis of the Oficina de Planes y Operaciones of the Judicial Investigating Organization.
Fernando Berrocal, minister of Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, has embarked on a two-pronged program against street crime. One effort is to cut into the drug trade. The second is to pick up criminals with pending warrants and a history of street crimes. The program has been adopted by other law enforcement agencies which now work together.
The signs of this are an increase in drug arrests and law enforcement sweeps at odd hours in areas where they are likely to encounter criminals.
Robbery or asalto here is defined as use of force or threat, and street robberies frequently lead to injuries or death when the victim fights back.
People have died on Avenida 2 in early evening because they would not surrender their cell telephone to a drug addict.
Just Thursday the Fuerza Pública and the Judicial Investigating Organization detained four men suspected of distributing drugs in Aurora, Heredia. The Fuerza Pública detained three men in Alajuela with crack and marijuana. And in the Alajuela district of Pital, officers announced that they had detained a man wanted for investigation of robbery. He had marijuana, cocaine and crack in his pockets, police said. This is a typical score for a weekday in recent months.
The biggest anti-drug bust of the week was at Playa Zapotal en Carrillo, Guanacaste. Wednesday three men beached what appears to be a drug boat and fled. The presumed crew, three Colombians, were caught a few miles away after one stole a bike from a 14 year old, said Berrocal’s ministry.
The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the boat at sea and drove it to shore, eventually into the hands of the Fuerza Pública, the Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas, the Vigilancia Aérea, the Policía de Control de Drogas and the Unidad Canina (K-9). When found, the boat was empty, but officials are conducting extensive searches to see if drugs have been hidden nearby. The boat could carry up to two tons of cocaine as well as two more tons of fuel.
The boat, typical of its type, had four 200-horsepower outboard motors. It carried 1,175 liters (about 310 gallons) of fuel. Some Costa Rican fishermen have a steady business of supplying fuel to these drug boats, and the crew of this craft might have made a mid-ocean pit stop before being detected. Fishermen usually get cocaine as payment, and then sell the drugs in the internal Costa Rican market.
Berrocal was at an unusual closed meeting with the Comisión de Narcotráfico of the Asamblea Legislativa for two hours Thursday in which he discussed the recent arrest of Colombian men who were accused of being hired gunmen sent to Costa Rica. They were ordered by Colombian drug lords to kill Berrocal and Rodrigo Arias, minister of the Presidencia and the brother to the president, in revenge for their efforts to block drug shipments, officials said at the time.
When the men were sent back to Colombia as illegal aliens, officials there set them free.
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David,
We love you but… We need to stop making apologies, stop bringing up the same worn US crime stats… This is a CR problem that is not going away till more of us get off our butts and do something about it. I think we’re better served by the alarmist among us than the apologist. We all love Costa Rica, we all agree it’s a safe, tranquil paradise… But, no doubt there’s a dark cloud in the tea leaves….You may be right… this may be an isolated incident, a statistical quirk. What if Alberto is right… What if, we wake up 5-10 years from now in the CR equivelent of Miami, LA, Caracass, Rio, Bogota, DF, etc.. What a sad day it would be…
We’re 11 steps short of a 12 step program… We owe it to ourselves, our kids, our host neighbors to, at the very least tell it like it is and stop making apologies… Admit we have a problem and do something about it, anything…
How can I help … What can we do….
Pardon my rant and thank you for you’re prolific posts.. I don’t always agree but I am a fan…
Cheers,
Rick DelgadoI would guess most of those drugs ended up in tourist hands… With our dollars come bad habits… Were it not for tourist demands for drugs… there’d be very little CR drug trade and all the spinoff crime.
Prosecute a few tourist, fine them severly, let it be know CR will not tolerate recreational drug use. Then focus on domestic use as a public health issue…
Edited on Jul 23, 2007 08:49
Yes, because the policy of fining and putting people in jail (war on drugs) has worked so well for the last twenty years!
I would say that the domestic demand for drugs is the real problem – a tourist doesn’t need to hurt anyone to get what he needs.
There is today a drug problem that was not evident in the eighties and the only way to approach it is education not punishment.
Edited on Jul 23, 2007 09:35
Harlon,
You got it. First you cannot expect this to be like the USA and second the ol “throw money at it and it’ll get better” mentality is an ol US stand by used by the majority of US citizens that define themselves by their NET worth not their character. I wrote Scott an article about that maybe he will print it soon.
Upe –
You have got to be kidding… Blame the tourist about the drug trade??? Obviously you are a tourist or a Tico.
That is like blaming the tourist about sex with minors. I have been here almost two decades and I know who is impregnating and having sex with minors – The vast majority are Ticos. Period. It is also a double standard as Ticos are never prosecuted for having sex with minors and they do it all the time. It is a cultural norm.
Drugs and sex with minors needs to be addressed through Tico educational system to change cultural habits. Also it is traditional in Latin countries that women come of age at 15. This has always been the defining age of sexual activity. As western cultural habits have been adopted (for the better) the Ticos have not adapted to it.
Let me repeat myself, 95% or more of sex occurring with minors is between Ticos – undoubtedly. It cracks me up that the Tico Time feminazis and whatever that group is who I am sure is milking money from someone for posting those signs at the airport about underage sex, target the smallest part of the problems (tourist) and never mentions the Ticos. I am sure they do it because they could not get the funding without the sensational line “sex tourism.” If they would use that milk money to help educate the Ticos you would see a dramatic decrease in teenage pregnancy and less teenage prostitution.
Yes, I believe we agree the War on Drugs is a loss cause and demand for drugs is the problem…. I stated domestic use should be treated as a public health problem.
Yes, I would severly fine tourist (not jail)..
And yes, it would be a deterent. It won’t solve their drug problem, but they will think twice before coming back… Is this the kind of tourist you’d like to cater to. Should we burden the CR legal and health system with them… Should we/would we welcome Tico drug users in the US.
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