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Massive Police Raids Breaks Up
Truck High Jacking Gang
More than 300 members of the
various police forces and the
prosecutors office took part in
23 different and simultaneous
raids that netted the arrest of
17 people - 10 Costa Ricans and
7 Orientals - that made up a
gang of criminals that are
responsible for the assault and
robbery of 87 trucks during the
last two years.
The majority of the merchandise
stolen were household appliances
valued at more than ¢1.2 billion
colones (us$2.33 million
dollars), according to the
Organismo de Investigación
Judicial (OIJ) direcotr, Jorge
Rojas Vargas, who headed the
investigation and police action.
The raids were held in the areas
of San José, Heredia and Cartago,
of homes of the members of the
gang, as well as businesses
owned or operated by them, that
included restaurants and
supermarkets, mainly catering to
an Oriental population.
Members of the Unidad Especial
de Apoyo (UEA) - special support
to the police used to break in
to the premises, theUnidad de
Intervención Policial (UIP) -
the special weapons and tactical
unit, and members of the Fuerza
Pública (regular police force)
assisted OIJ agents in their
work.
As custom, prosecutors and
judges are always present at
raids to ensure that the police
actions are carried out within
the law and add weight to the
trial, as the judges may form
part of the trial panel.
Director Rojas said that the
gang had been operating since
2004, assaulting trucks filled
with merchandise on the main
highways in the provinces of
Alajuela, Limón, Puntarenas and
Guanacaste. The OIJ head added
that in many cases members of
the gang would dress as Tránsito
(traffic) police officials to
stop the trucks and to
immobilize the driver, while the
truck was highjacked and taken
to a warehouse to unload the
merchandise.
The gang is said to be
responsible for 23 truck
jackings in 2005, 36 in 2005 and
28 this year and was headed by
two Orientals, one who left the
country recently.
With yesterday's arrest, the
police tally on arrests of those
responsible for high jacking
trucks comes to 28.
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