In a joint operation, two simultaneous raids were carried out in San Isidro de El General and Pérez Zeledón Division as part of the follow-up on the investigation on tapir hunters in the region.
The police diligence was in charge of La Amistad Pacífico Conservation Area of the National System of Conservation Areas of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Environmental Division of the Miscellaneous Offenses Section of the Judicial Investigation Agency and the Environmental Agrarian Prosecutor’s Office.
These raids respond to a joint investigation process carried out between personnel of the National System of Conservation Areas and the Environmental Division of the Misdemeanors Section of the Judicial Investigation Agency for almost three months, after a series of images and videos shared on social networks, which included several people and hunting dogs in full illegal acts of hunting tapirs and peccaries in forested areas.
The investigations allowed to identify two suspects named Valverde Ureña and Valverde Esquivel, who, after the raids, were arrested to be investigated by the Environmental Agrarian Prosecutor’s Office in Pérez Zeledón.
As a result of this joint operation, a 38-caliber revolver gun, 38-caliber ammunition, cell phones, a hunting dog, a wild parrot kept in captivity were seized. The investigation process will continue with the analysis of the evidence to determine the legal status of the alleged suspects.