An activity that generates nearly $1 billion a year in Costa Rica in exports is being seriously threatened by the infiltration of drug traffickers, who are taking advantage of loopholes left open by the government because it does not have an adequate system for checking containers and registering exporters.
The most recent seizure of 45 kilos of drugs that arrived in the United States in the corrugated bottom of 20 cardboard boxes of pineapples from San Carlos has once again set alarm bells ringing in the export sector, which has ceaselessly demanded that authorities to go back to the "in situ" review system of cargo, which used to be carried out before and stopped during the Solís administration.
In the view of businessmen in Guatemala, the country has become a connection center for merchandise that is transported illegally from the Colon Free Zone, in Panama, to the Corozal Free Zone, in Belize.
Within the to and fro of contraband products moving from the south of Central America on the route to Mexico, a significant amount stays in Guatemala, where criminal structures are responsible for "marketing" these products throughout the territory.
The latest discovery of drugs in a container of Costa Rican heart of palms which was destined for Europe, brings back to the table the problem of the lack of controls in customs offices.
The problem also centers around the fact that the different authorities contradict each other when it comes to explaining who carries out the processes for the inspecting containers entering and leaving the country and how.
Added to the factors already deteriorating competitiveness in the export sector are increased thefts of merchandise on the country's roads and infiltration of drug trafficking in exports.
The National Chamber of Cargo Carriers (Canatrac) reports that attacks on trucks on roads in the country have increased since 2012.They state "... on average 12 assaults used to be committed per year, however the figure has risen to 20 in recent years'."
Another case of drugs found in cargo which came from Costa Rica highlights the imperative need to improve controls and implement the use of scanners at export ports.
EDITORIAL
How many more drugs have to be found in commercial export cargo before the authorities in Costa Rica put into operation the scanners which were donated by the Chinese government eight years ago?
In a Coca Cola factory in France 370 kilos of cocaine were discovered hidden in a shipment of orange juice from Costa Rica.
The event has brought back to the table discussion in Costa Rica on the issue of implementation of controls to prevent export cargos from being used for drug smuggling to Europe and the United States, the main destinations of Costa Rica's foreign trade.
In Costa Rica scanners donated by China in 2008 remain unused, while exporting businesses are warning of the growing infiltration of drug trafficking in the sector.
Using scanners at the ports of Limon and reactivating inspection mechanisms that were used before to control cargo in containers, are part of the measures the agro-export sector is asking of the government in order to identify potential drugs hidden in shipments of merchandise.
Drug trafficking organizations send shipments to Europe in containers loaded mainly with agricultural products.
The Business Alliance for Secure Commerce (ASBC) is warning about activities practiced by criminal organizations, such as that in April 2014 when drug filled containers were seized in Europe, having come from Costa Rica. Exporting companies have had to pay more in order to implement controls and prevent filtration by criminal groups.
"If the calculations made for Guatemala in 2013 and 2014 are taken as a reference for other Central American countries, the volume of illegal trade in the region, could be between 3.4% and 4% of GDP".
"If the calculations made for Guatemala in 2013 and 2014 are taken as a reference for other Central American countries, the volume of illegal trade in the region, could be between 3.4% and 4% of GDP".
Costs will increase for exporters because of attempts to prevent their containers of fruits, tubers and ornamental plants exported to Europe from being used to transport drugs.
In Europe seizures of drugs hidden in Costa Rican agricultural exports have concerned the agro-export sector, which is demanding greater security controls and processes in shipping goods overseas, both for the measures carried out in the country as well as those carried out once borders have been crossed, explained industry representatives.
Leaders of business associations in the region have indicated that governmental arbitrariness is interfering in Central America’s development.
A statement from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (FECAMCO) reads:
Business organizations in the region which make up the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Central America (FECAMCO) when meeting in Miami, Florida, USA, expressed their "great concern" about the institutional crisis in El Salvador, which they described as an "assault on the rule of law."
Criminal activities in Central America cause a loss of $900 million for regional trade, said the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce of Central America.
In El Salvador, $600 million was lost due to armed robberies, and in Honduras, the figure is $150 million a year, reported merchants from the isthmus .
Among the criminal activities that affect trade are "the constant assaults suffered by vehicles carrying loads and goods through the region", reported an article in Pueblo en Línea, the Spanish version of The People's Daily, the official Chinese newspaper.