US sanctions Costa Rican drug network, including a beauty salon, for trafficking cocaine

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Costa Rican Drug Trafficking Network

The United States has imposed sanctions on five Costa Rican individuals and five entities accused of facilitating a major international cocaine trafficking operation that transported drugs from Colombia through Costa Rica to markets in the U.S. and Europe.

According to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba heads this extensive drug trafficking network. Officials described him as one of the most prolific international drug dealers operating in the Caribbean region, working alongside his brother Jordie Kevin Picado Grijalba.

“The entire drug trafficking supply chain — from shipping facilitators to money launderers — bears responsibility for American addictions and deaths,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in announcing the measures.

The sanctions also target Grijalba’s wife and mother-in-law, as well as several family-operated businesses allegedly involved in laundering drug proceeds. Among the sanctioned entities is a beauty salon that investigators claim served as a front for illegal activities.

This enforcement action stems from collaborative efforts between U.S. and Costa Rican authorities. The investigation involved Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Administration field offices working in coordination with Costa Rica’s Office of the Attorney General to identify and target the network’s operations.

Under these sanctions, the designated individuals and businesses are denied access to any property or financial assets held in the United States. Additionally, U.S. companies and citizens are prohibited from conducting business with them, effectively isolating them from the legitimate financial system.

The move represents part of a broader, increasingly aggressive approach by the Trump administration toward combating drug trafficking throughout the Caribbean region. In recent months, U.S. military forces have conducted a series of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in more than 100 fatalities since early September.

In a significant escalation of these efforts, the CIA reportedly carried out a drone strike in December at a docking facility in Venezuela believed to be used by drug cartels. This operation marked the first known direct U.S. military action on Venezuelan soil related to drug interdiction.

The Biden administration had previously prioritized regional cooperation in addressing drug trafficking. However, the Trump administration has adopted more direct intervention strategies while also securing bilateral agreements with countries like Costa Rica to support its immigration policies.

Early last year, during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Costa Rica, the two countries reached an agreement whereby Costa Rica would temporarily hold U.S. deportees in detention facilities while the Trump administration arranged their return to their countries of origin.

Drug trafficking remains a persistent challenge throughout Central America and the Caribbean, with transnational criminal organizations exploiting porous borders and limited enforcement capabilities in the region. Costa Rica, long considered one of the more stable countries in Central America, has increasingly found itself a transit point for cocaine shipments moving northward from Colombia toward the United States.

Experts note that these sanctions represent an important tool in disrupting the financial operations of drug trafficking networks, complementing military and law enforcement efforts to interdict drug shipments. By targeting both the individuals and their business interests, U.S. authorities aim to dismantle the economic infrastructure supporting these criminal enterprises.