Narconegocios
Flourishing
Corner stores, fruit
stands and all types of
small retail shops serve
as fronts for the real
business of selling
illegal drugs.
The Policia Control de
Drogas (PCD) - drug
enforcement police - are
fighting an escalating
battle where corner
stores and fruit stands
serve for more than
selling cookies, candies
and fruit. In addition,
neighbourhood bars are
in the game of selling
more than spirits.
Police are combating the
imagination of drug
traffickers in using
their ingenuity to come
up with activities to
hide their real
business.
In one bar, the PCD
found more than a kilo
of cocaine, more of
marijuana and 250 hits
of crack in a business
that appeared no
different than other
downtown bars.
In Barrio Cuba, the PCD
found in a small corner
variety store, dubbed "nacopuplperia",
some 900 hits of crack,
57 doses of cocaine and
more than us$1.000 in
cash.
In Limón, the drug
enforcement police found
a fruit stand that sold
more than just fruit,
serving a front for
illicit drug sales where
police found in the back
rooms 420 hits of crack,
marijuana and large
amounts of cash.
The list of raids on
bars, corner stores and
fruit stands is endless,
as police continue to
investigate reports from
neighbours.
For the authorities this
has become a severe
problem as it was once
believed that the local
sale and distribution of
illicit drugs was all
part of an international
ring. However,
authorities believe that
the national sale of
drugs is independent and
flourishing at a high
rate, as more and more
small local retailers
decide for the quick pay
off of drug sales,
converting themselves
into "narconegocios". |
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