World Notes Costa Rica

Acting on a tip from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 40 Costa Rican security agents swooped down last week on a luxurious ranch-style home in the capital of San Jose. Inside they found $40,000 in cash, $150,000 in traveler's checks and a gold-plated pistol. They also discovered Sara Cosio Martinez, the 17-year-old niece of a Mexican politician, who had apparently been kidnaped earlier this month. Best of all, the police arrested Mexican Drug King Rafael Caro Quintero, 32, also known as El Chapo (Shorty). Said U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese: "We're dealing with one of the major drug traffickers in the world."

Although no specific charges have been filed against him so far, Caro Quintero is believed to have masterminded the murders of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar and a Mexican pilot who frequently flew for the agency; their badly beaten bodies were found in central Mexico last month. That incident severely strained U.S.-Mexican relations as U.S. officials accused Mexican authorities of helping Caro Quintero flee the country. At week's end El Chapo was flown to Mexico, where the U.S. hoped he would be prosecuted.