Two Costa Rican nationals, one a former government official and judge, were extradited from Costa Rica to the United States on March 20 to face federal drug trafficking charges in the Eastern District of Texas.
Celso Manuel Gamboa Sanchez, 49, and Edwin Danney Lopez-Vega, 49, are the first Costa Rican nationals extradited since the country amended its constitution in May 2025 to permit such transfers in drug cases.
Gamboa Sanchez, who served as Costa Rica’s minister of public security in 2014 and as a judge from 2016 to 2018, was indicted on July 9, 2025, on charges of conspiring with international traffickers to manufacture, distribute, and transport large quantities of cocaine. Much of the cocaine moved through Costa Rica en route to the United States and Europe. Costa Rican police arrested him and Lopez-Vega on June 23, 2025.
Lopez-Vega was charged on June 11, 2025, in a separate indictment with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, knowing it would be imported into the United States. The two-count indictment alleges he participated in the scheme since 2008, trafficking the drug to countries across South, Central, and North America, including Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico.
Both men were scheduled for initial appearances in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on March 24.
The cases are part of the Homeland Security Task Force created by Executive Order 14159. The task force coordinates federal agencies to dismantle criminal cartels, transnational organizations, and smuggling networks operating inside and outside the United States, with particular focus on crimes involving children.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
The investigations were conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division, the FBI, and the DEA’s San Jose Country Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wes Wynne is prosecuting the cases.
The Justice Department thanked the government of Costa Rica, its attorney general’s office, and law enforcement authorities for their cooperation in the arrests and extraditions. The department’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, and the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica also assisted.
Sanchez and Lopez-Vega are Costa Rican nationals who were legally residing in Costa Rica. They were arrested by Costa Rican authorities and formally extradited to the United States to face federal drug trafficking charges in the Eastern District of Texas. Under U.S. immigration and criminal law, individuals brought into the country through formal extradition are not classified as illegal aliens.
A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.