Cocaine Smuggling Ring Broken Up
Costa Rican police smashed on Monday an international network that smuggled cocaine into Europe in plant pots, the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública announced.

A total of 10 suspects, including two heads of the gang, were arrested during an operation conducted by Interpol, Costa Rica's Drug Control Police and the Netherlands' Police Service Brigade, said the statement.

The two men hid the drug in plant pots, which were to be exported to Europe, in a rented farm in the Atlantic region.

They worked with a Colombian and a Costa Rican who were arrested by Costa Rican police in San José on Monday.

The police also arrested the gang's supplier, a Panamanian who imported cocaine, supplied by Colombian drug runners, by truck to Costa Rica from a warehouse in Panama.

The five people, accused of international drug-trafficking, will face jail terms of up to 20 years if convicted.

Costa Rican police also said their Dutch colleagues arrested a man and seized 326 kg of cocaine in his possession. Four accomplices were arrested in the same operation.