Costa Rica with US help nabs 21 suspects linked to human trafficking

FILE PHOTO: A member of the Panamanian security forces attends the launching ceremony of operation Choco at Nicanor Air Base, after the Panamanian government deployed on Friday at its border with Colombia to fight organized crime and human smuggling linked to the growing flow of migrants crossing the dangerous jungle of the Darien Gap, Panama June 2, 2023. REUTERS/Aris Martinez/File Photo

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - An extensive police operation in Costa Rica on Tuesday resulted in the arrests of 21 people suspected of links to an international human-trafficking network operating between Ecuador and the United States, police said.

Costa Rican officials coordinated with U.S. and Panamanian authorities for the operation which included 18 raids in different parts of the Central American country.