Four suspected human traffickers, or “coyotes,” were arrested Sunday at a checkpoint in the southern Caribbean town of Tuba Creek, according to a statement released by the Public Security Ministry yesterday.

Police arrested the alleged coyotes at this checkpoint near the Panamanian border between Limón and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, where all vehicles must stop while police ask the driver and passengers to present identification, and sometimes search their luggage.

The first car, which was stopped at about 5 a.m., contained four Colombian passengers traveling to Limón. Upon becoming suspicious about their immigration status, Border Police interrogated them and gleaned that they flew from their country to Panama. There, they allegedly contacted a coyote, crossed the Río Sixaola by boat and entered Costa Rica, the statement said. Police believe they each paid about $1,700 to make this journey.

Later that morning, two other alleged coyotes -- one identified by the last name Brooks and the other a 16-year-old whose name was not released -- were arrested when they allegedly tried to smuggle a 39-year-old Colombian man into Costa Rica, the statement said.

Another alleged coyote identified by the last name Rosales, a native of Tuba Creek, was stopped by police a few hours later and arrested for allegedly helping an ex-member of the Colombian government's Special Forces to enter Costa Rica illegally.

The four alleged coyotes arrested face charges before the Prosecutor's Office, and the migrants they were with are in the custody of the Immigration Police, according to the statement.

-Tico Times