Drug network, including beauty salon, punished for allegedly smuggling cocaine into the US through Costa Rica

The US imposed sanctions on five Costa Rican individuals and five Costa Rican entities – including a beauty salon – for allegedly helping to transport tons of cocaine from Colombia, storing the drugs in Costa Rica, and then exporting them to the US and Europe.

The Ministry of Finance’s Office of Foreign Trade Control suspects that Costa Rican Luis Manuel Picado Grijalba (known as “Shock”) is the leader of the network and one of the most prosperous international drug traffickers in the Caribbean, along with his brother Jordie Kevin Picado Grijalba (known as “Noni”).

“Shock and Noni are responsible for importing cocaine into Costa Rica, primarily through sea routes, and storing cocaine in warehouses throughout the country,” the US Treasury said in a statement.

The latest sanctions also target Grijalba’s wife and mother-in-law, and companies controlled by the family, including a beauty salon called Magic Esthetic Salon, related to alleged drug trafficking and money laundering.

Federal authorities say Shock and Noni grew their business by forming alliances with other drug traffickers and armed groups, including sicarios, or gangsters.

In December 2024, Shock was arrested in the UK and is currently in custody pending a final decision on extradition to the US, according to the Treasury Department. Last August, Noni was arrested in Costa Rica and is being held pending a decision to extradite him to the US

A team between the offices of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of the Attorney General of Costa Rica, and others worked to trace the individuals and firms that were sanctioned.

Among other things, the sanctions prohibit individuals and firms from accessing any assets or financial assets located in the US and prevent US companies and citizens from doing business with them.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “the entire chain of drug trafficking — from the shippers to the money launderers — is responsible for the addiction and deaths of Americans,” when he announced the sanctions.

Thursday’s sanctions are part of Trump’s broader crackdown on drug trafficking in the Caribbean.

The US military has done a a series of deadly strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. More than 100 people have been killed in attacks since the beginning of September and in known direct operations on Venezuelan soil, the CIA has conducted research. A drone strike in Decemberr in the port area which is believed to have been used by drug-trafficking companies.

In addition, the Trump administration made a deal with Costa Rica early last year during the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where Costa Rica agreed to detain US deportees in detention centers because of the Trump administration while they plan to return to their countries.

Last June, in the US sentenced six drug-trafficking suspects allegedly using boats and “narco subs” to trade cocaine. Four Guyanese citizens and two Colombians have been sentenced for allegedly smuggling tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.