Three masked invaders armed with automatic weapons hog-tied the only guard protecting the municipality of Osa, in the Southern Zone, before breaking in and stealing 16 computers and a vehicle Thursday night.

The invaders left behind hordes of valuable equipment, including monitors, printers and digital cameras, which has led investigators and the mayor of the Osa canton to suspect they were after information.

“They took all the information we have about the Maritime Zone,” said Osa Mayor Jorge Alberto Cole. “There has to be someone here with interest in the Maritime Zone who wants to erase evidence.”

Osa's Maritime Zone has recently been flooded with foreign development, and some coastal building has been scrutinized by the government (TT, Aug. 10).

The thieves took about $100,000 worth of equipment, mostly computer processors and the Maritime Zone Department's pickup truck. Cole said the municipality has all the information backed up.

Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) agent Evelyn Picado said the subjects showed up around 9 p.m. and tied up the guard's hands and feet, stuffed a piece of cloth in his mouth and locked him in the city council's bathroom. The suspects used the guard's key to enter the building, then cut the locks on the internal office doors. They were wearing gloves and it appears they left no physical evidence, according to Picado.

The guard wasn't able to free himself until two hours later