Drug trafficking: Costa Rican ex-security minister extradited to US

FBI agents

Former Costa Rican security minister, Celso Gamboa, was extradited on Friday to the United States where he faces drug trafficking charges, authorities in the Central American nation said.

The 49-year-old has vowed to implicate officials in the current government in the case.

Gamboa, whose many top jobs included deputy attorney general and Supreme Court justice, was handed over by a judge to US anti-drug agents along with his alleged partner, Edwin Lopez Vega, alias “Pecho de Rata” (Rat’s Chest).

The transfer took place amid a massive security operation at Juan Santamaria International Airport, which serves the capital, San Jose.

They are the first Costa Ricans to be extradited following 2025 constitutional reforms that allow for the extradition of nationals. Gamboa, also head of intelligence between 2013 and 2014, is the highest-ranking former Costa Rican official accused of drug trafficking.

“They are high-profile individuals,” Attorney General Carlo Diaz said during a press conference at the airport. “This is a historic day.”

Gamboa, who served as security minister during the 2014-2018 presidency of Luis Guillermo Solis, departed with convicted drug trafficker Vega on a plane escorted by US Drug Enforcement Administration agents bound for Texas. Punch