The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, January 9, 2004

QUESTIONING THE FIGURES: Casa Alianza is challenging PANI Minister Gil's claim that only 10 homeless kids, like this one, remain on the streets of San José.
TT/Julio Laínez

Organization Questions
Homeless Child Figures
Youth advocacy organization Casa Alianza yesterday questioned the accuracy of Tuesday's report from the Costa Rican Child Welfare Office (PANI) that only 10 homeless children remained on the streets of San José.
(Click for more)

Road Block Results in Seizure
Of 107 Kilograms of Cocaine
Vice Minister of Security Ana Helena Chacón announced yesterday that police from the southern region of Coto Brus found and seized approximately 107 kilograms of cocaine on Wednesday afternoon.
(Click for more)

January 9

Rice Festival
Festival highlights different dishes made with the popular grain and concerts by La Marka and Kalúa bands. Info: 281-1418.

Surf Circuit
Don't miss it! Jan. 10-11, Salsa Brava, Puerto Viejo, Limón. Info: circuitonacional@hotmail.com

Return To Top Of Page

Organization Questions
Homeless Child Figures
By Tim Sparkman
tsparkman@ticotimes.net

Youth advocacy organization Casa Alianza yesterday questioned the accuracy of Tuesday's report from the Costa Rican Child Welfare Office (PANI) that only 10 homeless children remained on the streets of San José.

"I hope she's right," said Bruce Harris, director of the San José-based Casa Alianza, referring to Child Welfare Minister Rosalía Gil, who made the claim at a press conference, "but I'd be very surprised if she is. I don't think she's been given the complete picture."

Gil reported that "25 children who were sleeping in cardboard boxes on the streets of San José" had been picked up and transferred to the government's new shelter in La Garita de Alajuela, about an hour outside of San José. She estimated only 10 homeless children remained in San José, and that they would all be in shelters by the end of February (TT Daily Page, Jan. 7).

Harris said Casa Alianza and PANI collaborated in a driving tour of Costa Rica to estimate the number of homeless children in the country early last year. They estimated there were 1,500 homeless children nationwide, with 500 of them living in San José, according to Harris.

"If they have 25 kids in a new shelter and 10 left, I don't know where the other 465 are," Harris said. "The tendency [of this population] is to increase rather than decrease."

Harris also objected to Gil's statement that the homeless children picked up by Child Welfare authorities will be subjected to drug detoxification with the help of the National Psychiatric Ward.

"Kids with addiction problems don't need to be sent to a psychiatric hospital," Harris said, "They need a strong environment where they can be loved and cared for."

Return To Top Of Page

Road Block Results in Seizure
Of 107 Kilograms of Cocaine
By Steven J. Barry
sbarry@ticotimes.net

Vice Minister of Security Ana Helena Chacón announced yesterday that police from the southern region of Coto Brus found and seized approximately 107 kilograms of cocaine on Wednesday afternoon.

The discovery was made during a routine road block set up in the town of San Jorge de San Vito, near the Panamanian border, for the purpose of surprising drug runners entering the country.

The cocaine was found under a false bed in the back of a Datsun pickup, driven by a Costa Rican identified by the last name of Navarro, she said.

"We don't know at this time what his modus operandi was, but it appears that this was a 'burro,' a person who transports drugs," Chacón said.

Police searched the vehicle after noting the suspicious behavior of the driver. After discovering the drugs, the officers requested support from the Drug Control Police (PCD), who conducted chemical tests and determined the substance was cocaine.

Officials said the street value of one kilogram of cocaine in Costa Rica is about $2,400, making the total value of the bust more than $250,000.

Police Commissioner Raúl Quesada said the cocaine apparently came from Ciudad Neily, about 15 kilometers south of San Jorge de San Vito.

Police say the area has been a hotbed of drug activity for the past month. On Dec. 18, officials seized 102 kilograms of cocaine in Aguas Buenas de Coto Brus. On Dec. 26, a Colombian who had passed through Panama without declaring his presence was detained on the Inter-American Highway after being found with $90,000 in cash, which officials believe was tied to drug trafficking operations.

Chacón described Costa Rica as a nation that, for drug runners, bridges the gap between South America and the United States, the country that has the highest drug consumption.

"We will not surrender in our mission to fight narcotraffic," she said.

A bust of this size does not usually serve to deter future drug trafficking, but results in a change of trafficking strategy, according to Chacón.

Runners were previously using cargo trucks to move cocaine, but after several large busts they have now resorted to using smaller vehicles, such as the one impounded during Wednesday's bust, she said.

Return To Top Of Page

Copa del Café Ends Saturday

The final matches for every category of the international tennis tournament, Copa Del Café, will take place Saturday at the Costa Rica Country Club in Escazú.

The tournament, which began Monday, will hold its semifinal matches today, starting at 6 p.m. The semifinals will be followed by a concert by the groups Ghandi and Evolución.

Today's winners will play for the title tomorrow at 3 p.m. For more information, call 228-9333.

Return To Top Of Page

Wednesday October 26, 2005