Three held as 1,266 kg of marijuana seized off Cabo Matapalo
Costa Rica's Coast Guard intercepted an unflagged go-fast boat about 170 nautical miles off Cabo Matapalo and seized 1,266 packages of marijuana plus 295 grams. Three crew members were detained and placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities.
🇨🇷 Pacific waters 170 nautical miles off Cabo Matapalo, Puntarenas · Costa Rica
Costa Rica’s Coast Guard seized1,266 kilos of marijuana and 176 kilos of
cocaine in southern Pacific waters about 170 nautical miles off Cabo Matapalo.[1]Officers boarded an unflagged go-fast boat with no name or registration and
found the load on its open deck.[2]Three suspects were detained: two Costa
Ricans and one Nicaraguan, and placed at the disposal of the judicial
authorities.[1]
The boat held 1,266 marijuana packages of about a kilo each plus 295 additional
grams of marijuana.[2]Authorities also found 13 drums with about 850 litres
of fuel used to move the load.[2]
The operation was carried out by the Coast Guard’s Special Operations Group with
the Drug Control Police, the Special Support Unit and the criminal intelligence
directorate, in coordination with Colombia, Panama and the United States.[2]The operation began after the Joint Interagency Task Force South operations
centre received information from Panama’s aeronaval service, Colombia and the
DEA about a boat carrying suspected drugs toward Costa Rica.[2]Security
Minister Mario Zamora said Costa Rica had already passed 21 tonnes of drugs
seized in 2026.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Teleticateletica.comESCosta Rica decomisa más de 1.400 kilos de droga en operación conjunta en el Pacífico Sur
CR Hoycrhoy.comESDecomisan más de 1.400 paquetes de droga en altamar y detienen a tres sospechosos
Open questions the AI reported
No separate interception date is given; 26 April 2026 is the publication date of both accounts and stands in for the event date.
Teletica reports 176 kilos of cocaine while CR Hoy counts 173 one-kilo packages of cocaine; the cocaine is mentioned only to explain the mixed load and is excluded from cannabis figures.
The cannabis total of 1,266.295 kg is calculated from 1,266 packages of about one kilogram each plus 295 grams, not a laboratory weight.
The detainees are identified only by the surnames Scott, Artavia and Rocha; no charges, custody ruling or court outcome were reported.
The 13 fuel drums and the 21-tonne year-to-date national total are mentioned only as context and are not recorded as case figures.
Costa Rica's National Coast Guard detained two Ecuadorian men in a 38-foot go-fast boat 52 nautical miles south-east of Punta Burica and seized 2,648 one-kilogram marijuana packages at Golfito. The Public Ministry is deciding their legal situation, and no charges or court step have been reported.
Fuerza Pública officers seized nine packs and 158 doses of suspected marijuana plus cash at the Miraflores dike in Taras, Cartago, after three suspects fled. The mixed seizure also contained crack, cocaine, tusi and ecstasy and was handed to judicial authorities.
Costa Rica's National Coast Guard reported seizing 14,912 kilos of marijuana as part of more than 44 tonnes of drugs intercepted in maritime operations so far in 2026, with 66 people apprehended and 26 vessels seized. The South Pacific accounted for 24 interventions against one in the Caribbean, in operations the service attributed to joint work with the United States, Panama and Colombia.
Costa Rica's Fuerza Pública and Drug Control Police seized 524 marijuana packages, more than 250 kg in total, from a vehicle at a road control in Macho Gaff, San Isidro de El Guarco, Cartago. Two men suspected of transporting the load were handed to the Public Ministry, and the packages bore images of Mexican trafficking figures.
