A PRESIDENTIAL Tour: President Oscar Arias yesterday donned laboratory gear to tour the medical equipment company Allergan's new plant for manufacturing silicone implants and products to combat obesity. Arias praised the company's plans to double its work force here by 2012 as an example of the benefits foreign investment brings the country.

Those feeling generous with their spare change should beware of people with no connection to the Costa Rican Rotary Club fronting as Rotary Club members to ask for money, according to a statement from the organization.

The Wonder Years in Concert
Classics from the 1960s and '70s, 9 p.m., Bar Grappa, Centro Comercial Boulevard Lindora, Santa Ana, west of San José. Info: 820-3985.

Women's Club of Costa Rica Luncheon
11:30 a.m., Ramada Plaza Herradura, Ciudad Cariari, northwest of San José. Info: 282-6801, 430-5322.

By Blake Schmidt
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net

President Oscar Arias and Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz made cameo appearances yesterday at the medical equipment company Allergan's new manufacturing plant in the Global Park complex in Heredia, north of San José.

This global company based in Irvine, California, has spent some $15 million in Costa Rica to date, and it plans to double its work force here to 400 by 2012, according to Alexander Unfried, general manager of Allergan in Costa Rica.

In November of last year, Allergan, which fabricates silicone implants and products to combat obesity, bought out the medical company INAMED for $3.2 billion. The business has seen an annual growth rate of 20% since 1998, according to Unfried.

During the past decade, the number of businesses producing and exporting medical equipment and products has nearly quintupled, and these companies have attracted nearly half a billion dollars in direct foreign investment. Medical equipment and products, combined, are now Costa Rica's second biggest export after microprocessors, according to Edna Camacho, director of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE).

By Leland Baxter-Neal
Tico Times Staff | lbaxter@ticotimes.net

As Costa Rican authorities – in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard – have intensified their search for drug traffickers in the Pacific Ocean, more and more Costa Rican fishing vessels and fishermen have been caught up in the dragnet.

During the past eight months, Costa Rican and U.S. officials have seized 30 metric tons of cocaine, mostly from speedboats and Costa Rican fishing boats off the Pacific coast.

This week, Public Security Minister Fernando Berrocal joined officials from the Costa Rican Coast Guard and the fishing industry to discuss how to curb this new trend.

At a press conference yesterday, Berrocal announced that the Public Security Ministry, the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (INCOPESCA), the Costa Rican Coast Guard and other government institutions are collaborating through a series of workshops on how to better control and monitor the sector.

One of the issues raised recently has been the use of tax-free gasoline the government provides many Costa Rican fishermen. The Public Security Ministry has reported that this gasoline has often been used to fuel boats loaded with cocaine headed north.

Officials yesterday announced they are working to improve control over the distribution of this tax-free gas and will be recommending punishments for its misuse.

INCOPESCA Director Carlos Villalobos said he is also considering other options, such as using satellite technology to monitor Costa Rican fishing fleets and dispatching special INCOPESCA fueling ships to provide fishermen at sea better access to this fuel.

Those feeling generous with their spare change should beware of people with no connection to the Costa Rican Rotary Club fronting as Rotary Club members to ask for money, according to a statement from the organization.

The only project the Costa Rican branch of this international service organization is carrying out here is called “30,000 desks for Costa Rica,” which began in 2005 to provide desks for schools around the country with little resources. This program is funded through links with businesses, and all fundraising efforts are clearly identified in connection with this specific program, the statement said.

The Rotary Club has recently become aware of people using the organization's name for their personal benefit, the statement said.