The Costa Rica Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) has arrested six people allegedly responsible for sending 32kg of cocaine to Australia concealed in a shipment of inflatable boats.
Inquiries in Australia and overseas began in June 2023, after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers detected the illicit drugs in a sea cargo consignment from Costa Rica.
The cocaine - with an estimated street value of $10.4 million - was found hidden in the inflatable boats inside the container.
Evidence obtained by the AFP during investigations in Sydney was passed via the AFP's international liaison post in Mexico to the OIJ.
In June 2025, OIJ investigators conducted six search warrants across homes and warehouses in Costa Rica with five men - aged 68, 63, 49, 47 and 28 - and a 57-year-old woman arrested.
Police have charged the alleged syndicate members with drug and money laundering offences contrary to Costa Rican law, including charges in relation to the June 2023 seizure.
During the warrants, the OIJ also seized six vehicles, cash, mobile phones, computers and jewellery.
AFP Commander Kate Ferry said organised crime operated in a borderless environment and the arrests demonstrated the importance of coordinated international action.
"Our role as an agency is to combat and disrupt organised crime impacting Australia, and in turn keep Australians safe," Commander Ferry said.
"The arrests in Costa Rica are a direct result of the commitment, tenacity and agility of AFP investigators and our International Post in Mexico, and their hard work continues to deliver results that cripple the ability of organised crime to target Australia."
Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) deputy director Michael Soto, explained how the alleged criminal group managed to make the business so lucrative.
"A kilogram of cocaine brought into Costa Rican territory is worth about $7,000 (USD) to criminal structures. But in Australia, that same kilo is worth $300,000," he said.
"That is why that shipment alone, confiscated two years ago, was worth a total of $9.6 million-about ₡4.844 million at today's exchange rate.
"At the moment we are facing overproduction of cocaine in the southern part of the continent. Unfortunately, our country has also become a drug hub, and many structures try to profit from this - because of their experience, because of their contacts in international drug trafficking - in order to forward shipments like this to other countries.
"This is one of many ways of operating. We have seen it in fruit, in containers, in some types of furniture, and this is one that, although small in comparison to the amount we are used to, is much more lucrative than sending a shipment to a nearby country in the Americas."
