Authorities from the United States and Costa Rica delivered what is being described as a significant blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) on Sunday morning, in a small Costa Rican village that underscores the cartel’s expanding reach — and the region’s escalating response.
The operation unfolded in La Guácima, a village in Costa Rica’s Alajuela province. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), intelligence gathered in early August pointed to a drug trafficking group operating in the area, primarily involved in cocaine trafficking. Costa Rican agents from the Directorate of Intelligence and Criminal Analysis (DIIC), the Special Support Unit (UEA), and the Drug Control Police (PCD) confirmed the intelligence and moved in.
On Sunday morning, officers stopped a vehicle carrying two individuals — one Venezuelan national and one Nicaraguan — believed to be connected to the trafficking network. A search revealed 66 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a compartment within the car. At the same time, authorities raided a residence linked to the operation and uncovered approximately 925 kilograms of cocaine, bringing the total seizure to just under a metric ton.
The drugs are believed to be tied to CJNG, one of Mexico’s most violent and expansive criminal organizations. The operation is being hailed as a concrete example of the “Shield of the Americas” partnership between Washington and Latin American nations, a theme the Trump administration has championed.
Why Costa Rica?
CJNG’s presence in Costa Rica may seem surprising given the country’s reputation as one of Central America’s most peaceful nations. But the reality is that cartel activity has been rising in Costa Rica, which has become a critical transit corridor for South American cocaine moving north to the United States and across the Atlantic to Europe.
According to the 2025 Global Organized Crime Index, the number of criminal groups operating in Costa Rica has surged from 35 to 340 over the past decade — a startling increase that reflects the country’s growing importance to international drug trafficking networks.
CJNG’s ties to Costa Rica have become more visible in recent years. In December 2024, the Colombian prosecutor’s office reported dismantling an organization dedicated to legitimizing capital from international drug trafficking, with operations extending to Costa Rica and connections to CJNG.
In March 2025, graffiti appeared along the General Cañas highway between San José and Alajuela reading “El señor Mencho y sus gallos” (“Mr. Mencho and his roosters”) — a reference to Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the late CJNG leader who was killed in February. Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ) launched an investigation.
By November 2025, the Spanish National Police confirmed that CJNG was operating out of Costa Rican ports to ship methamphetamine and cocaine to Europe. A month later, Colombia’s Clan del Golfo was also found to be operating out of Costa Rica.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has noted that “Costa Rica has become an increasingly significant waypoint for criminal organizations trafficking cocaine to the United States,” specifically identifying the Moín seaport in Limón — opened in 2019 — as “a key regional transshipment hub for cocaine.” Criminal groups have fought for control of the port and its surrounding territory to ship cocaine in containers, and Costa Rican security officials attribute rising violence to these territorial battles.
A New Sheriff in Town
President Laura Fernández, who took office in May, has made clear she intends to confront this challenge head-on. Fernández campaigned on a tough-on-crime platform with a style some compare to El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, and she has moved quickly to translate that rhetoric into action.
In the past six months alone, there have been numerous joint operations with U.S. authorities along Costa Rica’s coast, including interdicting drug boats and arresting traffickers. Last year, Costa Rica amended its constitution to allow the extradition of its own nationals to the United States and other countries — a change already being put to use. Just last week, Costa Rica extradited Gilbert Hernán Bell Fernández, also known as “Macho Coca,” a major cocaine trafficker wanted in New York.
Costa Rica is also building a mega-prison, the Center for High Containment of Organized Crime (CACCO), inspired by Bukele’s CECOT facility in El Salvador. Bukele himself served as a consultant to the previous government of Rodrigo Chaves when plans were being drawn up.
Sunday’s land operation is the latest example of this shifting approach. As the author of the original report notes, this was not a sanction or a statement — it was action.
On Friday, President Fernández spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “reaffirm the strong U.S.-Costa Rica partnership,” discussing opportunities to deepen security cooperation and bilateral trade and investment, according to the State Department. Similar partnerships are reportedly expanding in Colombia, Ecuador, and Paraguay — a sign that the crackdown on cartels in the Americas is broadening.
The operation in La Guácima sends a clear message: even in the most peaceful corners of Central America, the cartels are not beyond reach.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2026/08/17/cjng-showed-up-somewhere-you-might-not-expect-it-didnt-go-well-n4956225
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