Costa Rican police operation in November 2025: 30 arrests and 14 tons of drugs seized

The statement is not 100% exact but close enough for a reasonable person (e.g., claimed 70% vs. actual 65%). Learn more in Methodology.

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enforcement

Costa Rican police operation resulted in 30 arrests and seizure of 14 tons of drugs and multiple luxury assets linked to the organization.

Source summary

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated five Costa Rican individuals and five Costa Rica–based entities under Executive Order 14059 for involvement in cocaine trafficking and money laundering. The action targets a network led by Luis Manuel “Shock” Picado Grijalba and his brother Jordie Kevin “Noni” Picado Grijalba, who are accused of importing, storing, and shipping multi-ton quantities of cocaine from Colombia through Costa Rica to the United States and Europe. The designations follow a coordinated Homeland Security Task Force and Costa Rican law enforcement investigation, and they block U.S. property interests of the listed parties and prohibit most U.S. transactions with them. Several arrests and a large seizure in Costa Rica — including Shock’s arrest in the U.K. and Noni’s arrest in Costa Rica — are cited as part of enforcement actions.

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Latest fact check

Multiple official and media reports confirm that in early November 2025 Costa Rican authorities carried out a large nationwide operation (Operación Traición) targeting the group led by Luis Manuel “Shock” and Jordie “Noni” Picado Grijalba, with raids in Limón, San José and other provinces. The U.S. Treasury (OFAC) press release states the November action "led to the arrest of 30 individuals and the seizure of 14 tons of drugs and many luxury assets," while Costa Rican official sources (OIJ and Ministerio Público) and major local outlets corroborate the operation and large asset seizures but report slightly different figures — OIJ and other local reports cite about 13.7 tonnes linked to the multi‑year investigation and preliminary arrest counts of ~28–29 (some outlets later reported up to 35). Verdict: Close — the core event, targets, locations and substantial seizures/assets are confirmed, but the precise arrest and drug‑tonnage figures in the quoted sentence are rounded or reflect cumulative totals across the investigation rather than a single, unambiguous November‑only seizure count.

Sources

Timeline

Update · Jan 23, 2026, 02:03 AMClose
Multiple official and media reports confirm that in early November 2025 Costa Rican authorities carried out a large nationwide operation (Operación Traición) targeting the group led by Luis Manuel “Shock” and Jordie “Noni” Picado Grijalba, with raids in Limón, San José and other provinces. The U.S. Treasury (OFAC) press release states the November action "led to the arrest of 30 individuals and the seizure of 14 tons of drugs and many luxury assets," while Costa Rican official sources (OIJ and Ministerio Público) and major local outlets corroborate the operation and large asset seizures but report slightly different figures — OIJ and other local reports cite about 13.7 tonnes linked to the multi‑year investigation and preliminary arrest counts of ~28–29 (some outlets later reported up to 35). Verdict: Close — the core event, targets, locations and substantial seizures/assets are confirmed, but the precise arrest and drug‑tonnage figures in the quoted sentence are rounded or reflect cumulative totals across the investigation rather than a single, unambiguous November‑only seizure count.
Original article · Jan 22, 2026
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