{"id":515337,"date":"2026-07-13T23:15:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/u-s-requests-extradition-of-four-individuals-linked-to-the-sinaloa-cartel\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:15:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:15:32","slug":"u-s-requests-extradition-of-four-individuals-linked-to-the-sinaloa-cartel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/international\/u-s-requests-extradition-of-four-individuals-linked-to-the-sinaloa-cartel\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. requests extradition of four individuals linked to the Sinaloa Cartel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States justice system requested the extradition of three Costa Ricans and one Mexican citizen<\/strong> accused of being part of a criminal structure allegedly linked to the Sinaloa Cartel<\/strong>, dedicated to the international trafficking of cocaine through clandestine air routes from Costa Rica.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The request was issued by the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin,<\/strong> following an investigation conducted by the Drug Control Police<\/strong> (PCD), the Special Support Unit<\/strong> (UEA), the Directorate of Intelligence and Criminal Analysis<\/strong> (DIAC), and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration<\/strong> (DEA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four suspects remain in pretrial detention<\/strong> while the corresponding judicial proceedings advance before the Criminal Court of the First Judicial Circuit of San Jos\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The investigation originated from an operation carried out on December 10, 2025, in the vicinity of the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. That day, authorities intercepted a Mexican citizen with the surname Takashima and three Costa Ricans with the surnames Carvajal, Rodr\u00edguez, and Castillo,<\/strong> who were traveling in three vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend reading:Two Dominicans accused of drug trafficking and organized crime extradited to the U.S.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the operation, the Police seized approximately 400 kilograms of cocaine<\/strong> which, according to the investigation, were to be transported via an aircraft that would take off from a clandestine airstrip with a final destination of the United States.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The Drug Control Police seized 400 kilograms of cocaine during the operation carried out in December 2025 near the Liberia airport. Credit: MSP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. authorities attribute apparent crimes of conspiracy and international drug trafficking to the four detainees. In addition, two of the suspects face additional charges related to alleged offenses linked to the use and possession of firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A logistical operation for clandestine flights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the drugs, the Drug Control Police<\/strong> seized a series of implements that would provide evidence of the infrastructure used by the organization to facilitate illegal flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the confiscated items are portable lamps that, according to authorities, were intended to be used to illuminate clandestine airstrips during nighttime operations, communication radios, tires for small aircraft, containers with aircraft fuel, firearms, ammunition, and cash in both colones and dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For investigators, these findings strengthen the hypothesis that the organization had previously planned logistics to move shipments of cocaine into U.S. territory using aircraft that operated outside of official controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the cocaine, agents seized firearms, aircraft fuel, communication radios, and equipment used for clandestine aerial operations. Credit: MSP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigations also allowed linking the group to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking in America<\/strong> and pointed out by U.S. authorities for operating international networks for the shipment of cocaine, methamphetamines, and other drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Costa Rica as a strategic point for drug trafficking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The case brings back to the table the role that Costa Rica plays as a transit point for international criminal organizations seeking to take advantage of its geographical location to send drug shipments to North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, national authorities have detected an increase in the use of clandestine airstrips, vessels, and shipping containers as mechanisms to move cocaine to international markets, especially the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooperation between Costa Rican authorities and U.S. agencies has made it possible to strengthen investigations against structures linked to Mexican cartels, whose members often coordinate logistical operations from different Central American countries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspects remain in pretrial detention while the Costa Rican courts process the extradition request filed by U.S. authorities. Credit: MSP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A case connected to another investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The authorities indicated that this case is related to another investigation carried out by the Drug Control Police in April 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that occasion, officers intercepted a yacht near the Quepos Marina, in Puntarenas, where three Mexican citizens were captured transporting approximately 840 kilograms of cocaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is the case with Liberia, the three foreigners were also subsequently sought by the U.S. justice system through extradition requests for crimes related to international drug trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities consider that both files are part of the joint effort between Costa Rica and the United States to dismantle international networks that use Costa Rican territory as a platform for the trafficking of cocaine to North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As judicial proceedings advance, the four suspects will remain in pretrial detention while awaiting the Costa Rican courts to resolve the extradition request filed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States justice system requested the extradition of three Costa Ricans and one Mexican citizen accused of being part of a criminal structure allegedly linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, dedicated to the international trafficking of cocaine through clandestine air routes from Costa Rica. The request was issued by the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133556,"featured_media":515338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[17355,40484],"class_list":["post-515337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","tag-costa-rica","tag-sinaloa-cartel"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2a3T","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/TVPYEBOG7FFABF7QCWZ7EXAKCM.avif","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yerandi Santana","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-13-at-5.35.07-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["International"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/TVPYEBOG7FFABF7QCWZ7EXAKCM.avif"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}