SAN JOSE, March 20 (Reuters) – Costa Rica on Friday extradited former top judge and security minister Celso Gamboa to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of international drug trafficking, marking the Central American nation’s first-ever extradition of its own nationals.
“Costa Rica is sending a strong message: no one can use our nationality to evade justice,” Attorney General Carlo Diaz said in a video message sent to media.
A judicial reform in 2025 eliminated a ban on extraditing nationals in a bid to combat organized crime that has worsened violence in a nation long recognized as one of the safest and most peaceful across Latin America.
Gamboa was removed as Supreme Court justice in 2018 amid corruption allegations, and the case against him has been at the heart of a heated debate about the level of potential collusion between organized crime and the highest political circles.
Gamboa rose to prominence through various judicial and executive positions, including security minister, intelligence director, and deputy minister to the presidency.
President Rodrigo Chaves, who recently attended an anti-crime summit with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump and other right-wing-aligned Latin American leaders in Florida, said Gamboa represented “the tip of the iceberg.”
Gamboa has said the accusations are in “bad faith” and Chaves will eventually have to face justice, without specifying charges.
The former judge told Reuters this week he would testify in the U.S. and share information about others involved if his safety and that of his family is guaranteed.
The new extradition law rules that Costa Ricans sent to the U.S. cannot be subject to the death penalty or a sentence exceeding 50 years.
Gamboa, 49, was extradited in a U.S. plane to Texas alongside alleged drug trafficker Edwin Lopez Vega, known as “Pecho de Rata,” who was arrested on the same day as the former Supreme Court justice.
In 2021, a Costa Rican man was extradited to the U.S. but Costa Rican authorities say this was from another country.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Andrea Ricci )
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