Summary The rest of it went to non-governmental organizations tackling drug use, trafficking and addictions.
SAN JOS (AFP) - Costa Rica’s government has handed $5 million taken from drug traffickers and other criminals to its law enforcement agencies and anti-drugs programs, officials said Tuesday.
The funds were a combination of seized cash and proceeds from sales of ill-gotten assets confiscated from criminals during past operations, the presidency said.
Nearly half the money went to police investigators, the narcotics squad, the intelligence and security service and the public ministry in charge of prosecutions, it said in a statement.
The rest of it went to non-governmental organizations tackling drug use, trafficking and addictions.
Financial support for those groups underlined the government’s strategy for combating the illicit drugs trade and organized crime, the head of the Costa Rican Instute on Drugs, Guillermo Araya, told a news conference.
The Central American country has seen a record rise in the murder rate, to 558 homicides last year, attributed in large part to organized crime.
