US Treasury sanctions Costa Rican drug network for trafficking cocaine

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Thursday on five Costa Ricans and five Costa Rican entities for allegedly helping to transport tons of cocaine from Colombia, storing the drugs in Costa Rica, and shipping them to the United States and Europe.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in announcing the action: “the entire drug trafficking supply chain — from shipping facilitators to money launderers — bears responsibility for American addictions and deaths.”

The sanctions target the financial and logistical infrastructure supporting drug trafficking and are part of a broader Trump administration strategy addressing the cocaine supply chain linked to rising addiction and overdose deaths in the United States.

Network Targets

The sanctions focus on Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba, whom the Treasury Department describes as the leader of the network and one of the most prolific international drug dealers in the Caribbean. His brother, Jordie Kevin Picado Grijalba, is also sanctioned.

The action extends to Picado Grijalba’s wife and mother-in-law, and family-operated companies including a beauty salon, which the Treasury Department alleges are linked to drug trafficking and money laundering.

The sanctions deny the targeted individuals and entities access to any property or financial assets held in the United States and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them. A taskforce including the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Costa Rica’s Office of the Attorney General coordinated the investigation.

Broader Caribbean Operations

The sanctions are part of a larger Trump administration pursuit of drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Latin America. Since early September, the U.S. military has conducted a series of strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in more than 100 deaths.

In December, the CIA carried out a drone strike on Venezuelan soil at a docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels, marking the first known direct operation on Venezuelan territory.

In early 2025, the Trump administration struck a deal with Costa Rica in which Costa Rica agreed to hold U.S. deportees in detention facilities pending their return to their home countries.