Costa Rican police last week received training in new techniques for investigating money laundering during a seminar given by visiting officials from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Department of Homeland Security and anti-drug police officers, according to a statement from Costa Rica's Public Security Ministry.

Among Costa Rican officers who participated were those from the Drug Control Police, Airport Police, Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) and Prosecutor's Office.

They studied investigation techniques for crimes linked to money laundering such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, corruption, fraud and others.

Paul Valvano, coordinator of the IRS training program, said authorities should focus not only on catching those guilty of money laundering, but also on investigations to undermine the funding of established criminal operations, the statement said.

Costa Rica and Colombia are the only two countries who have participated in this seminar, aimed at combating money laundering on a global level.

-Tico Times