️ For the first time in recent history, Costa Rica has extradited its citizens to the United States to face criminal charges related to drug-trafficking and conspiracy. Among those extradited on Friday is a top government official, Celso Gamboa, 49, who previously served as a Supreme Court justice from 2016 to 2018 and as deputy attorney general from 2015 to 2016. The administration of Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles hailed the extraditions as a major step in ensuring criminal justice, with Attorney General Carlo Diaz stating in a video message that "Costa Rica is sending a strong message: no one can use our nationality to evade justice."
️ Diaz acknowledged that "high-profile individuals" were included in this inaugural extradition, calling it "a historic day." Previously, the Constitution of Costa Rica banned the extradition of its citizens for prosecution abroad, but this changed in 2025 with a constitutional amendment championed by the Chaves government, passed by the legislature with 44 votes in support out of 57 deputies. Proponents argue the change was necessary to combat growing crime and corruption in the judicial system, while critics contend that extradition is a hardline tactic that fails to address root causes of crime and subjects citizens to foreign laws.
️ The amendment is specifically tailored to extradite suspects accused of drug-trafficking and "terrorism," with conditions that suspects cannot be sent abroad to face the death penalty or sentences exceeding 50 years' imprisonment, the maximum under Costa Rican law. This move is part of a broader regional trend in Latin America of aggressive tactics to combat organized crime, exemplified by Ecuador's approval of a similar amendment via referendum in April 2024, with the US confirming its first extradition from Ecuador in July 2025. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa praised the measure as providing officials "more tools to fight crime."
️ Friday's extradition involved Gamboa and his alleged co-conspirator Edwin Lopez Vega, a suspected drug trafficker known by the nickname "Pecho de Rata" or "Rat's Chest." Both men were handcuffed on a Texas-bound plane at Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose. Chaves Robles has accused Gamboa of representing "the tip of the iceberg" in terms of corruption in the political system, but Gamboa has claimed the accusations against him were made in "bad faith" and that he plans to testify against other government figures if his and his family's safety are not ensured.
️ The extradition underscores Costa Rica's increasingly close relationship with the US, particularly under the Trump regime. After Trump took office for a second term, Costa Rica became one of the first countries to accept US deportation flights carrying citizens of "third-party" countries as part of Trump's mass deportation push. This week, it also expelled Cuban diplomats as part of a Trump-led pressure campaign against the Caribbean island, and President Chaves recently joined other right-wing Latin American leaders at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort for a security summit on March 7, highlighting the geopolitical alignment and its implications for regional justice efforts.
Source: www.aljazeera.com