Hidden among tree branches in the Southern Zone's Piedras Blancas National Park, police yesterday discovered 1,050 kilograms of cocaine and arrested three men suspected of hiding it there, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

A fisherman in the area notified the Costa Rican Coast Guard that he observed three suspicious men getting out of a boat in the early morning near Playa Gallardo, inside the park.

Coast Guard officials, along with police and officials from the Environment and Energy Ministry (MINAE) scoured the area and found the drugs hidden in the branches of palm trees and under the leaves of various plants, the statement said.

They then began an intense search for the three men they believed to have hidden the drugs, and they found and arrested them eight hours later near Gamba, north of Río Claro.

The three arrested were identified by the last names Obando, 47, Bolaños, 38, and Caicedo, 37; all are from Colombia. They face drug trafficking charges before the Prosecutor's Office in the Southern Zone town of Golfito.