Costa Rica decided last week to extradite former Security Minister and former Supreme Court judge Celso Gamboa Sánchez to the United States, accused of participating in international drug trafficking. His extradition marked the first time that the country sent one of its own citizens to trial abroad following a constitutional reform that began to allow such proceedings in cases linked to organized crime.
Gamboa was transferred under tight security from La Reforma prison, where he was being held preventively, to Juan Santamaría international airport, where he was handed over to American authorities. He is wanted by the US Federal Court in the state of Texas on charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine destined for the United States.
According to the US Department of Justice, the former magistrate was indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas on charges of collaborating with international traffickers and helping to produce and ship drugs that would be transported via Central American routes to American territory. The investigations against Gamboa were conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the FBI and federal task forces specialized in combating drug trafficking.
The ex-judge’s extradition was only possible after the change to article 32 of the Constitution, approved last year, which eliminated the prohibition on sending the country’s citizens abroad in processes linked to international drug trafficking and terrorism. The reform was approved amid an increase in violence associated with organized crime in the region.
Gamboa was removed from his role as Supreme Court judge in 2018 following corruption allegations.
Costa Rica’s Attorney General, Carlo Díaz, stated that the extradition represents a milestone in the fight against organized crime.
“Costa Rica is sending a clear message: no one can use their nationality to escape justice,” he declared in a statement released to the press.
Another defendant in the same Gamboa case, Edwin López Vega, was also extradited to the United States on the same flight. According to American authorities, both will face trial in federal court in Texas, where they could face severe penalties if convicted, although Costa Rican law prohibits extradition in cases involving the death penalty or sentences exceeding 50 years.
