How does an immigration police officer end up being part of a suspicious group of human smugglers? The answer is a no-brainer.
A criminal organization made up of three foreigners used the Costa Rican civil servant, Rodríguez, to aid Cuban migrants with fake passports go through the Juan Santamaría airport.
Rodríguez was informed of who would arrive in the country and on what flight. Similarly, the migrants were instructed to look for the counter of the official, who facilitated their access to Costa Rica.
The objective was not to stay here, but to travel by air to Mexico and continue the journey to the United States. In return, the Cubans paid sums of up to $16 thousand to complete the entire journey, which started in Cuba in connection with Ecuador, Peru and then Costa Rica.
As confirmed by Esteban Obando, deputy director of the Migration Police, once Cubans arrived on Costa Rican soil, a member of the criminal group was in charge of receiving them and transferring them to a house in Moravia, where they stayed there for 10 days.
A Cuban national named Gallard and his wife and daughter were arrested, as well as the migration police officer.
Although the Immigration Police did not quantify the number of Cubans smuggled by this group, nor the amount of money that Rodróguez received, Obando confirmed that they identified four Cubans who used these illicit services. No doubt, they could be more.