More Tránsitos Behind Bars For Corruption

More Tránsitos (traffic officials) fall in the hands of judicial authorities for allegedly extorting bribes from drivers.

On Thursday agents of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) detained seven Tránsito officials of the Zurquí police station, with three more detentions coming, leaving only "one" official in the detachment.

The director of the OIJ, Jorge Rojas, explained that the officials would stop a stop driver on a traffic offence and offer the driver the option of "paying on the spot" rather than the inconvenience of having to go to the bank to pay the traffic ticket.

Rojas said that an investigation began following complaints and that the crimes of officials taking money and drivers paying were recorded as evidence that led to the detentions.

Before the video, investigators monitored the activities of the officials and using high powered binoculars to witness the illegal transactions.

The director of the Policia de Tránsito, Diego Herrera, did not comment on the Thursday arrest, saying he want to wait for the full report before commenting to the press.

According to the investigation report, Tránsitos would charge drivers in lieu of a traffic ticket, including charging foreigners the fine in dollars.

The officials were identified by their last names: Montero, Marin, Arce, Porras, Bolaños all with previous criminal records and Abarca and Garcia.

The Fiscalia (prosecution) explained that the officers face charges of extortion, illegal payments and dereliction of duty.