The Costa Rican Public Force captured two groups of Nicaraguans who were carrying out illegal mining activities in protected areas, for which they will be deported to Nicaragua.
According to information made public by the Costa Rican security authorities, the captured Nicaraguans were in Costa Rica in “irregular immigration status.”
Information from the neighboring country indicates that the Public Force captured eight Nicaraguans found red-handed, in the middle of excavation activity, when they were carrying out illegal extraction of mining material in tunnels in a town of Cutris.
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Another 11 Nicaraguans were detained while they were heading to “the mining material extraction sectors.” The two groups were placed under the command of the Public Force, which will refer them to the Immigration authorities for their respective deportation to Nicaragua.
After the arrest, law enforcement officers dismantled eight mining material processing centers where an equal number of crushing machines for gold washing, popularly called “tombolas” or “mills,” operated.
Costa Rica captures and deports the Nicas who are captured in illegal mining while in Nicaragua, the area of Río San Juan and the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, bordering Costa Rica, hundreds of nationals dedicate themselves to artisanal mining publicly in the sight and patience of the sole authorities.