HomeNewsAnalysisPolice Arrest Four Smugglers in Nicaragua
ANALYSIS

Police Arrest Four Smugglers in Nicaragua

NICARAGUA / 14 DEC 2010 BY INSIGHT CRIME EN

Nicaraguan police arrested four people accused of controlling airstrips in southern Nicaragua, used to launch drug flights for Mexican cartels, authorities said. 

The arrests come amid growing concerns inside Nicaragua and Costa Rica about the Tarazanes, a transnational network of drug and gun smugglers drawing increased attention from the security forces.

Police spokesperson Vilma Reyes Sandoval told El Nuevo Diario that the four detainees worked with Mexican and Colombian cartels, and that there may be more arrests in the coming days. She added that there may be a larger group based in Nicaragua, involving Costa Rican, Honduran and Colombian traffickers. Prensa Latina cites an unnamed source that says the group was in fact working with the Familia Michoacana.

The traffickers used a fumigation company as a cover for their drug trafficking, and laundered their profits through real estate and cars. Police seized five aircraft, 21 cars and seven properties during the operation.

There are no indications yet that the detainees worked for the Tarzanes, a league of smugglers operating on both sides of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. They are usually linked to a traditional contraband family, headed by Agustin Reyes-Aragon and his six brothers.

The Tarzanes are believed to use rivers and lakes as a smuggling routes for precursor chemicals, cocaine, guns and other logistical supplies. La Prensa reports that the Nicaraguan army is finding increased evidence of their involvement in drug trafficking. Since October, the army has found several go-fast boats loaded with tons of cocaine and a secret air strip near the San Juan river, the group's traditional smuggling route. Six Hondurans who were arrested while trafficking drugs in southern Nicargua on 1 October are allegedly linked with the group.

Nicaragua has asked Costa Rica for help in combating the group, believed to take refuge in Costa Rican territory.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COCAINE / 13 APR 2021

The dismantling of a Costa Rican drug gang that worked with agents in an elite investigative unit to steal cocaine…

ARGENTINA / 8 FEB 2023

InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up covers more countries than ever before, with a major expansion into nations of the Caribbean.

ELITES AND CRIME / 15 JUL 2021

In the process of expanding their influence, criminal groups often develop close ties with elites in an effort to gain…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…