Transit Police Arrested for Extorting Money from Tourists
Unrelated Transit Police at Checkpoint in San Jose
Two transit officials from Jaco are in police custody and one other under investigation by officials of Judicial Investigative Police for complicity in an attempt to extort money from a group of tourists on vacation in Costa Rica. According to news reports the three officers stopped the vehicle at a roadside check point near the beach town of Jaco on Wednesday night and administered a breathalyzer test for alcohol.
When two alcohol tests came up negative an officer informed the driver that he would issue a ticket for attempting to evade the checkpoint unless he received a cash payment of $1000. The officer reduced the demand to $600 when the driver suggested he couldn’t pay, but finally accepted just $100.
Los Suenos Resort on Playa Herradura was the choice of the group of extorted tourists.
The group of tourists included the driver of the car, retired firefighter from Florida Frank Straub, his wife Joan, and two radiologists from New York, Carly Abromowits and Adriana Pecorilla.
The Straubs chose Costa Rica as their vacation destination to celebrate their wedding anniversary and stayed at the Marriot Los Sueños Hotel on Playa Herradura.
On the Thursday the group reported the crime to officials of the Judicial Investigative Police (OIJ).
News reports indicate that two transit officials are in police custody and were positively identified by witnesses. A third officer remains under formal investigation.
Officials from the Garabito OIJ police delegation and prosecutors office accelerated the investigation, capture and official identification of the officers in order to accommodate the travel plans of the tourists. The group testified before a criminal court judge, prosecutors, and defense attorneys for the accused at 5:45am, Friday morning before boarding flights home to the United States.
Increased monetary demands on the part of corrupt transit officials has been a fear of Costa Ricans and expatriates alike ever since the government passed a New Transit Law that calls for higher fines and stiffer penalties.
Had Frank Straub actually been ticked by transit police the costs would have been high as the threatened charge were relatively serious and he was likely driving a rental vehicle. The rental company would have passed these fines along with other potential fees onto his credit card.
Tourists are especially vulnerable to corrupt transit police because they often do not speak Spanish, are unfamiliar with the legal system, and after all are on vacation. While investigators did expedite the process the entire experience likely had the effect of ruining several days of vacation.
The Straub case is also unique in that transit police couldn’t actually find any real offense. False charges were invented in an attempt to extort a large cash payment from a group of tourists. Jaco in particular has a bad reputation for police corruption and violence as a result of the drug culture.
Jaco is beach party town that drinks alot.
Given the amount of drinking that goes on at the beach party town it’s apparent these transit cops just got greedy.
The chances of actually finding someone driving under the influence and willing to pay a bribe would seem high.
Of course we will never know the entire story. In some Latin American countries it’s common for police to pay commissions to their superiors in order to get prime postings where they can extort tourists.
Perhaps these cops in Jaco just became frustrated that they couldn’t make the quota for their police bosses.
One thing is for certain, operating an automobile in Costa Rica is more expensive than ever.
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Filed Under: Local News
Yeah, the higher fines just mean higher bribes. Amazing that the lawmakers didn’t forsee this, or maybe they did and just don’t care. Easier than actually paying enough to hire honest cops.
I most respectfully disagree with your statement that higher fines means higher bribes. The point of the story is that if one will just take the time to report the attempted extortion, then there is a remedy, and the government of Costa Rica does care. Don’t give into any attempt to extort money from you, and always ask for the ticket to be written.
Everyone knows, every weekend night, 2 cops, 1 tow truck after 9PM where Costanera hits I love Sushi restaurant if you are American or tourist looking it is an automatic stop. Clip 10,000 colones to cedula and usually they let you go; it has been going on for years.
my frienda and i were recently on vacation in costa rico and had NOT drank anything when we were stopped at 1100 am on the way to monteverde! apparently we were going 10 k over the speed limit. he kept asking and looking for money and we finally gave him 100.00 dollars under duress. This seems very unfair and illegal! here in the usa there is such an uproar in arizona because all they want to do is to be able to ask for id. imagine if it were found out that polce officers were actually targeting foreigners to shake them down. clearly the cr government knows what is going on and they should be enacting laws to stop the descrimination against foreigners instead of raising fines. that experience changed my whole experience in cr. without us tourist, their economy will completely die.
Excuse me, folks, but the very last thing you ever want to do when stopped by any CR cop is to offer them cash. I don't care how much they 'seem' to be looking for it, or if the outright ask for it, simply tell them to give you a ticket, or bring you to a judge right now. Do not feed the animals!
Excuse me, folks, but the very last thing you ever want to do when stopped by any CR cop is to offer them cash. I don't care how much they 'seem' to be looking for it, or if the outright ask for it, simply tell them to give you a ticket, or bring you to a judge right now. Do not feed the animals!
Just ask if you can pay now, and you should be able to. The paper work doesn't always make it to where it's supposed to, and you can't get out of the country. $40 and no ticket for 119 km in an 80 km zone. Don't be so righteous and cheap.
Well all I can say is costa rica going down the tube, I got a parking ticket for $400 (not colones DOLLARS) for 20 minutes of parking along the road and no yellow line. !!! The transit police have their hands out BIG TIME ! If anyone would like to see the ticket email gringosoy@gmail.com
I find that driving an old beaten up car is a big help. I got stopped by a tránsito in Heredia – he was right, my bad. After checking my papers, he looked at my ’96 dented and scratched Corolla and told me to “Drive Carefully”. No fine or ticket. I did apologize and tell him that he was entirely correct in stopping me.