Justice Minister says Betonsports Gary Kaplan Will Not Be Extradited
"He is protected by the law" Costa Rica Vice President  and Minister of Justice, Laura Chinchilla, told the daily Spanish language newspaper Al Dia, commenting on the arrest warrants issued by the U.S. Department of Justice against Gary Kaplan.

Costa Rica has no law that regulates the sports betting industry, Chinchilla said, therefore the government doesn't have legal means to intervene and assist the United States Department of  Justice (DoJ).

Sports betting is not illegal in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rican government imposes an annual tax on the over 750 sports books located in the country, a number of which operate without paying the tax.

Mrs. Chinchilla also revealed that the Costa Rican government had been warned last week that the United States was about to undertake legal action against companies operating in Costa Rica and their executives. The warning was given during a meeting Costa Rican officials had with officers of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (GAFIC) last week in San José.

Interpol in Coast Rica reported not having received arrest warrants for Gary Kaplan until Wednesday. Gary Kaplan has traveled to and from Costa Rica more of a hundred times during the past few years, Costa Rican Immigration officials told Al Dia.

"Gary Kaplan resides in Costa Rica and a warrant has been issued for his arrest." The DoJ said Monday in its press release announcing the Indictments. Kaplan's whereabouts remain unknown.

The Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), director Jorge Rojas, said that his department ran several investigations for money laundering allegations related to the sports betting industry in the past years. “Our investigations never found evidence of these alleged crimes”, he said.

The United States said that there could be ties between sports betting and money laundering in the past. These allegations have never been proven factual.

A detention hearing for BETonSPORTS CEO David Carruthers will be held tomorrow in Forth Worth, Texas. The Justice Department told Carruthers’ defense that they oppose bail for the detainee.

Carruthers was detained at Dallas International Airport last Sunday. The FBI might have used passenger’s lists to arrest the man.

Passenger’s lists are handed over by European countries to the U.S. as part of the agreement on the War on Terror. If confirmed, the use of such lists for scopes other than tracking down suspects of terrorism could set grounds for legal repercussions between Europe and the United States.