Average of Four U.S.
Passports Stolen Daily
Thieves steal an average
of four American
passports a day,
according to a report by
the U.S. embassy in
Costa Rica, noting that
1.348 passports were
stolen during 2007.
The numbers place Costa
Rica in the top list of
countries for stolen
U.S. passports, taking a
backseat to Rome, Paris
and Mexico D.F., though
the embassy would not
reveal the statistics
for those cities.
The embassy report said
that in the majority of
the cases the passports
are stolen from tourists
and that Americans
living in Costa Rica
also are victims of such
crimes and that most of
the thefts occur in the
Central Valley and the
beaches between
Puntarenas and Quepos on
the Pacific coast.
The situation is
worrisome for U.S.
embassy officials as the
number of cases of
stolen U.S. passports is
on the increase.
The embassy report
indicates tha th ebymber
of cases from October 1,
2007 to Februay 29,
2008, 556 passports have
been reported stolen, a
13% increase over the
same period the year
earlier (October 2006 to
February 2007) when 492
passports were reported
stolen.
The embassy report
indicates that in the
majority of the cases
the passports are taken
when luggage is stolen
normally during a
vehicle break in.
Evelyn Ardón, press
officer for the U.S.
embassy in San José,
said that the method
generally reported is
that thieves puncture
tires and when their
victims stop to change
the tire, there is
someone to offer help.
While one person is
offering help, others
are busy hauling away
luggage and other
valuable items from the
vehicle, which in most
cases includes the
passport.
The director of
Migración (Costa Rican
immigration service),
Mario Zamora, assures
that U.S. passports are
very valuable on the
black market.
"We cannot forget that
the country is flow zone
for migration from the
Caribbean and South
America to the United
States and are prepared
to pay for a U.S.
passport, even though
they are false", said
Zamora.
According to the
immigration director,
the passports are easily
altered by "mafiosos"
and customers with
similar physical
appearances to the owner
of the passport are
sought and then sold for
between us$5.000 and
us$7.000 dollars.
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